Previous 5 / 51 Next

2 NATIONAL REPUBLICAN SENATORIAL COMMITTEE v. FEDERAL ELECTION COMM’N Opinion of the Court Election Comm’n, 518 U. S. 604, 613–616, 618 (1996) (Colorado I) (controlling opinion of Breyer, J.). But FECA still limits a political party’s coordinated expenditures. As the name implies, a political party’s coordinated expenditures are the party’s expenditures on, for example, advertisements produced or distributed in consultation with a candidate’s campaign. The primary current justification for those limits is to prevent circumvention—that is, to prevent a donor from circumventing the statutory limits on contributions to candidates by making a large contribution to a party that the party then uses to support a particular candidate. Some 25 years ago in a case known as Colorado II, this Court—over the dissent of JUSTICE THOMAS for four Justices—upheld FECA’s limits on political-party coordinated expenditures. See Federal Election Comm’n v. Colorado Republican Federal Campaign Comm., 533 U. S. 431 (2001). But recently, a group of candidates and political committees filed a new lawsuit and argued that Colorado II is no longer good law (or should be overruled). They point to: the significant changes in this Court’s First Amendment campaign finance jurisprudence since 2001; the enhancements in the other tools available to the Government to prevent circumvention of the contribution limits, especially earmarking and disclosure laws; and the diminished relative power of political parties as compared to outside groups over the last 25 years, which has undermined a key premise of Colorado II. See McCutcheon v. Federal Election Comm’n, 572 U. S. 185 (2014); Federal Election Comm’n v. Ted Cruz for Senate, 596 U. S. 289 (2022); see also SpeechNow.org v. Federal Election Comm’n, 599 F. 3d 686 (CADC 2010) (en banc). In light of the doctrinal and factual changes since 2001, the United States agrees with plaintiffs that Colorado II no longer retains vitality. So the Government does not defend the constitutionality of the political-party coordinated-

Select target paragraph3

● ● ●

National Republican Senatorial Committee v. Federal Election Commission

Judgment

Question Presented: Whether FECA's limits on political parties' coordinated expenditures with candidates violate the First Amendment's guarantee of freedom of speech, and specifically whether Colorado II—which upheld those limits under a deferential standard of review—remains good law in light of the Court's subsequent, more demanding campaign finance jurisprudence requiring that restrictions be "necessary," "narrowly tailored," and not "disproportionate" to the government's interest in preventing quid pro quo corruption.

Alleged Acts: The Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) imposes limits on the amount a political party may spend in coordination with its candidates during political campaigns—known as "coordinated-expenditure limits." 52 U.S.C. §30116(d). These limits vary by office: for Senate candidates, the national party committee may spend between $130,600 and $4,071,800; for House candidates, between $65,300 and $130,600; and for Presidential candidates, up to $32,392,200. In 2022, the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), then-candidate for Senate JD Vance, and then-Representative Steve Chabot sued the FEC, arguing that these limits violate the First Amendment. They contend that FEC v. Colorado Republican Federal Campaign Comm. (Colorado II), 533 U.S. 431 (2001)—which upheld the limits—is no longer good law in light of the Court's more recent campaign finance decisions, particularly McCutcheon v. FEC, 572 U.S. 185 (2014), and FEC v. Ted Cruz for Senate, 596 U.S. 289 (2022). Notably, the United States (Executive Branch) agreed with plaintiffs that the limits are no longer constitutional, declining to defend them.

Procedural history: The en banc U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit rejected the plaintiffs' challenge and upheld FECA's coordinated-expenditure limits, applying Colorado II. However, a majority of the Sixth Circuit judges questioned Colorado II's continued vitality.

Summary: National Republican Senatorial Committee v. FEC is a landmark First Amendment campaign finance decision in which the Supreme Court struck down FECA's limits on political-party coordinated expenditures as unconstitutional. Writing for the 6–3 majority, Justice Kavanaugh held that existing base contribution limits, earmarking rules, and disclosure requirements together provide sufficient protection against quid pro quo corruption, making the additional coordinated-expenditure limits "disproportionate" and not "narrowly tailored." The Court formally overruled Colorado II (2001), finding its reasoning had been thoroughly undermined by subsequent precedents, particularly McCutcheon and Cruz. The dissent, authored by Justice Kagan, argued that without the caps, donors could circumvent base contribution limits by funneling large contributions through political parties to candidates, thereby reviving opportunities for quid pro quo corruption. The decision applies equally to all political parties and removes a significant regulatory constraint on party-candidate coordination.

Conclusion: In a 6–3 decision, the Supreme Court reversed the Sixth Circuit and held that FECA's political-party coordinated-expenditure limits violate the First Amendment. Justice Kavanaugh delivered the opinion of the Court, joined by Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, and Barrett. The Court concluded that the combination of (i) base contribution limits, (ii) earmarking rules (52 U.S.C. §30116(a)(8)), and (iii) disclosure requirements (52 U.S.C. §30104(b)) already serve as three sufficient prophylactic measures against quid pro quo corruption. The coordinated-expenditure limits would operate as a "fourth prophylaxis" that is "disproportionate" and not "necessary" given the less-speech-restrictive alternatives. The Court also noted that a majority of States do not impose similar limits on party coordinated expenditures, and no evidence of resulting corruption has materialized.

Legal Issue(s)

Campaign Finance
Conflict of Interests

Applicable Law(s): First Amendment of the United States Constitution and the Federal Election Campaign Act

Region: Americas

Country: United States of America

Language of Decision

English

Court: Supreme Court

Election Type: General

Date of decision: Jun 30, 2026

Geolocation

Latitude: 38.8906

Longitude: -77.0047

: Geolocation

Link: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/24-621_h315.pdf

Primary Documents

National Republican Senatorial Committee v. Federal Election Commission.pdf
English
Download View

Election Judgments - IFES

Select target paragraph3

National Republican Senatorial Committee v. Federal Election Commission

Primary Documents

Notifications