The Daily Fuckup

The Supreme Court on June 30, 2026, struck down the Federal Election Campaign Act’s limits on political-party coordinated expenditures in National Republican Senatorial Committee v. Federal Election Commission. The court’s opinion says those limits violate the First Amendment. The Federal Election Commission then issued its own update the same day and a follow-up litigation note on July 1. citeturn1view0turn1view1turn0view0

The holding is specific. The court did not blow up all coordination rules, and it did not dismantle campaign-finance law generally. It ruled on the FECA provisions that cap what party committees may spend in coordination with federal candidates, and it said the government has other anti-circumvention tools, including earmarking rules and disclosure requirements. citeturn0view0turn1view0turn1view4

The practical effect is that party committees no longer face that federal spending cap when they coordinate with candidates under the statute the court reviewed. The FEC’s own guidance page still describes the old 2026 limits, including the inflation-adjusted dollar amounts that had applied to Senate and House races before the ruling. citeturn1view2turn1view4turn0view0

Politically, the decision is the kind of win party leaders are likely to frame as leverage for future campaign spending, because party committees remain major conduits for donor money, consultants, and coordinated election activity. But that is an effect of the ruling, not the ruling’s legal holding. What changed on June 30 was narrower: one set of FECA limits on coordinated party expenditures fell, while the rest of the campaign-finance framework stayed in place. citeturn0view0turn1view1turn1view0

That distinction matters. The court’s opinion leans on existing anti-corruption doctrine, but it says the limits at issue were not narrowly tailored given other safeguards already in the law. So the decision opens more room for party spending alongside candidates, yet it leaves intact the broader system of contribution limits, disclosure rules, and other campaign-finance restrictions that were not before the court. citeturn0view0turn1view0turn1view4