U.S. Supreme Court Hears Campaign Finance Arguments

On December 9, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments concerning certain campaign finance restrictions and whether they should be struck down. The issue specifically addressed before the court was the constitutionality of legal restraints on how much political parties can spend on their own campaign advertising if it is done in cooperation or coordination with the candidates the party wants to get elected. In National Republican Senatorial Committee v. Federal Election Commission, plaintiffs argued the limits on coordinated party expenditures violate the First Amendment, either on their face or as applied to party spending in connection with party coordinated communications.

This case is an appeal from a decision by a 10-judge majority of the en banc Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, which had previously upheld the limitations as constitutional. In doing so, the lower court acknowledged that while the U.S. Supreme Court had addressed the free-speech restrictions on campaign finance regulation in recent years, but any new assessment of the validity of the limits would need to be addressed by the U.S. Supreme Court.

A decision is expected in July of 2026.

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