SCOTUS Strikes Down Coordinated Campaign Spending Caps

The Supreme Court, in a 6-3 decision authored by Justice Kavanaugh, struck down longstanding federal limits on how much national party committees can spend in coordination with candidates, ruling such caps violate the First Amendment. The ruling lets parties spend unlimited money in coordination with candidates while independent expenditures remain unrestricted but must be separate from campaigns. Republicans cheered, arguing the decision levels the playing field, while Democrats warned it empowers billionaires and special interests. The change follows decades of rollback of campaign-finance rules since Citizens United and could boost party spending in the 2026 elections; the old caps—up to about $4 million for Senate races and around $127,000 for large House seats—no longer constrain coordinated spending.