Topline
The Supreme Court will consider Tuesday whether to get rid of limits on how much political parties can spend coordinating with candidates, hearing a case brought by Republican candidates including Vice President J.D. Vance and potentially paving the way for wealthy donors to spend thousands more directly supporting candidates’ campaigns.
Vice President JD Vance participates in a fireside chat at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium on November 20 in Washington, DC.
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Key Facts
The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) v. Federal Election Commission (FEC), a case brought by Republican campaign committees, Vice President J.D. Vance—from his time as a senator—and former Rep. Steven Joseph Chabot, R-Ohio.
The case challenges a longstanding rule that limits how much political parties can spend coordinating directly with candidates, meaning payments for goods and services that directly benefit a candidate’s campaign.
In 2025, those limits range from $63,600 for House races for states with more than one congressional district, to $3,946,100 for Senate races in the most populous states, and parties’ coordinated spending was capped at $32,392,200 in the 2024 presidential election.
The Republicans challenging the limits argue that the cap violates the First Amendment and doesn’t work as a deterrent to bribery or “quid pro quo” schemes, because other rules that prevent earmarking donations for specific purposes make it “implausible” that a donor would try to bribe a candidate by donating to a political party.
The FEC initially defended the limits under the Biden administration, but the Trump administration switched the government’s position and said it thinks the limits should be struck down, so the court appointed a separate lawyer to argue in favor of keeping the policy.
What To Watch For
The court will hear oral arguments Tuesday and issue a ruling at some point during the coming months. A decision will come out before the court’s term ends in late June 2026, so whatever the court decides will affect fundraising in the 2026 midterm elections.
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Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2025/12/09/supreme-court-could-soon-abolish-another-limit-on-big-money-political-donations-what-to-know-as-case-heard-today/


