The Supreme Court on Tuesday struck down limits on how much political parties can spend in collaboration with political candidates, recognizing a victory for Republicans who argued the limits violated the First Amendment.
The 6-3 ruling, opposed by the court’s liberal justices, overturns coordinated spending limits that have been in place for decades and withstood a 25-year-old legal challenge.
Doing so would further expand the role of money in American politics, a role that had already been expanded by rulings that lifted limits on independent campaign spending by political parties and corporations.
Democratic organizations had opposed the challenge by the National Republican Senatorial Committee, arguing that there was no constitutional reason for the Supreme Court to turn a political party’s “restricted rights” into unlimited rights.
However, the court’s majority concluded that the “adjusted spending limits among political parties at issue here are “disproportionate” and not “necessary” and “narrowly tailored” to satisfy the government’s interest in preventing “circumvention of basic limits on contributions to candidates by designated contributions to political parties.”
President Donald Trump took a victory lap after the ruling, writing on Truth Social, “The Supreme Court just lifted limits on political spending! A huge win for the Republican Party! And more importantly, the First Amendment!”
Justice Brett Kavanaugh, speaking for the majority, said that restrictions on political party campaign spending under the Federal Election Campaign Act “inevitably violate the free speech rights of political parties” and violate the First Amendment.
Kavanaugh emphasized that the ruling “treats all political parties equally.”
“This will allow all political parties, including the DNC and RNC, their respective Senate and House campaign committees, and other parties and party committees, to participate more freely in the political process, compete more fully, and work more closely with candidates,” he wrote.
But Democratic committee chairs denounced the ruling as “a victory for billionaire donors and special interests who want more influence over the Republican agenda and an invitation to corruption.”
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