Cite as: 609 U. S. ____ (2026)
1
Opinion of the Court
NOTICE: This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the
United States Reports. Readers are requested to notify the Reporter of
Decisions, Supreme Court of the United States, Washington, D. C. 20543,
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SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
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No. 24–621
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NATIONAL REPUBLICAN SENATORIAL COMMITTEE,
ET AL., PETITIONERS v. FEDERAL ELECTION
COMMISSION, ET AL.
ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF
APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT
[June 30, 2026]
JUSTICE KAVANAUGH delivered the opinion of the Court.
Ratified in 1791, the First Amendment provides that
“Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of
speech.” As relevant here, the Federal Election Campaign
Act, known as FECA, limits a political party’s campaign
spending.
Those spending limits necessarily abridge
political parties’ freedom of speech: Because “virtually
every means of communicating ideas in today’s mass society
requires the expenditure of money,” a “restriction on the
amount of money a person or group can spend on political
communication during a campaign necessarily reduces the
quantity of expression by restricting the number of issues
discussed, the depth of their exploration, and the size of the
audience reached.” Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U. S. 1, 19 (1976)
(per curiam).
Applying the First Amendment, this Court has long ruled
that a political party possesses a right to make unlimited
independent expenditures during a campaign—that is,
expenditures without coordinating with a candidate. See
Colorado Republican Federal Campaign Comm. v. Federal