LobbyComply Blog

On June 30, the U.S. Supreme Court decided political party coordinated-expenditure limits violate the First Amendment. The case, National Republican Senatorial Committee v. FEC, presented to the Court the issue of whether the limits on coordinated party expenditures in 52 U.S.C. §30116 violate the First Amendment, either on their face or as applied to party spending in connection with ‘party coordinated communications’ as defined in 11 C.F.R. §109.37. The definition of political party communication includes when the communication is paid for by a political party committee. The National Republican Senatorial Committee argued the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (FECA) unconstitutionally restricted their ability to coordinate campaign advertising with their own candidates. Here the plaintiffs contended spending money independently on advertising to get Republican Party candidates elected, without the ability to coordinate with the candidates and create a unified  and integrated political  message, was financially inefficient and a burden to First Amendment electoral speech. The case was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. The Sixth Circuit Court, sitting en banc, had previously held that the FECA’s limits on coordinated campaign expenditures did not violate the First Amendment. In Justice Kagan’s dissent, joined by Justice Sotomayor and Justice Jackson, Kagan maintained a party’s unlimited coordinated expenditures undermine contribution limits imposed on individual candidates.

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On January 7, Kenyan McDuffie resigned from his seat with the Council of the District of Columbia. McDuffie, an independent with an at-large seat who served more than 13 years on the D.C. Council, resigned in order to consider running for mayor. According to the District’s Home Rule Act, when a councilmember with no party affiliation leaves office, the council must make an appointment until the vacancy can be filled in a special election. DC Council Chairperson Phil Mendelson is expected to select a nominee within the next few weeks. The full council will then vote on the nomination, with at least seven votes required for confirmation. A special election must be held no later than 174 days after a vacancy.

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On July 14, legislation was introduced in the Council of the District of Columbia addressing campaign finance rules, including the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in campaign finance advertising.

Bill B26-0329, the Campaign Finance Modernization Amendment Act of 2025, would require a disclaimer on an advertisement containing an image, audio, or video that has been manipulated or altered by AI, and would prohibit the distribution of a deepfake within 90 days of an election.

The bill also enacts legislation requiring additional reporting from committees not currently required to submit more than two reports a year and prohibits the Office of Campaign Finance from accepting a report that omits certain legally required information. Other changes in the legislation include amending the definition of “coordinate” or “coordination” to capture conduct from other political committees, political action committees, and independent expenditure committees that are not affiliated with a public official; providing the Office of Campaign Finance a specified timeline to conduct an investigation on a complaint; and establishing an advisory group consisting of current and former campaign treasurers, campaign finance experts, and donation platforms to meet at least four times a year to consult on potential process improvements for the campaign finance system and the Fair Elections Program.

It would also prohibit a candidate who was expelled from the council from being certified under the Fair Elections Program.

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