Supreme Court strikes down coordinated campaign spending limits

Washington — The Supreme Court on Tuesday struck down federal limits on the amount of money a political committee can spend in coordination with federal candidates, further unwinding restrictions on the flow of money into congressional campaigns just months ahead of the midterm elections. In the case National Republican Senatorial Committee v. Federal Election Commission, the court divided 6-3 along ideological lines in finding that the caps on what are called coordinated party expenditures violate the First Amendment. The decision joins a line of recent rulings from the court's conservative majority that have invalidated campaign finance limits on the grounds that they restrict political speech. In an opinion authored by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, the high court's conservative majority said its decision "treats all political parties equally. It will allow all political parties — including the DNC and RNC and the respective Senate and House campaign committees, as well as other parties and party committees — to participate more freely and compete more fully in the political process, and to coordinate more closely with their candidates." At the center of the case were limits imposed by Congress through the Federal Election Campaign Act, which was passed to regulate the financing of federal campaigns. …