Top Democratic officials are vowing to fight “tooth and nail” to preserve federal campaign spending limits as the Supreme Court takes up the issue this fall, describing the Republican effort to undo the limits as unprecedented and dangerous ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
The Supreme Court agreed to hear National Republican Senatorial Committee v. Federal Election Commission, a challenge filed by the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the National Republican Congressional Committee, and on behalf of two Republican Senate candidates, including current Vice President JD Vance, after the 2022 elections.
In a statement, Democratic campaign arms vowed to fight what they called a Republican effort to “inject chaos and upend our campaign finance system, which would send us back to the pre-Watergate era of campaign finance.”
At issue are federal spending limits that cap how much political parties can spend in coordination with certain candidates, and Republicans argue this violates First Amendment free speech protections.
A ruling from the Supreme Court’s 6-3 conservative majority could have major implications on campaign spending in the U.S., further eroding the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, a law Congress passed more than 50 years ago with the intention of limiting the amount of money that can be spent in coordination with candidates.
According to Fox News, the case is already sure to be one of the highest-profile to be taken up by the Supreme Court this fall. Adding to the drama is the involvement of the Justice Department under the Trump administration, which said in May that it planned to side with the NRSC in the case, an unusual move for the Trump administration to argue against a law passed by Congress.
