A major campaign finance battle will be heard by the Supreme Court on Tuesday, as the justices weigh whether to strike down federal restrictions on coordinated spending between political parties and their candidates.
Vice President Vance was one of the challengers. When he was a senator, he filed suit alongside former Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Ohio) and Republicans’ campaign committees in both chambers against the Federal Election Commission (FEC), which enforces the rules at stake.
They contend that the limits amount to a violation of the First Amendment’s free speech protections, saying in court filings it is “past time” to clear up the issue.
The challenge has the Trump administration’s backing after it abandoned its defense of the provision, agreeing now that it’s unconstitutional.
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) will argue the other side, represented by prominent Democratic election attorney Marc Elias, in addition to a court-appointed lawyer, since President Trump’s FEC won’t defend the provision.
The Supreme Court previously upheld “coordinated party expenditure limits” more than two decades ago, which were first passed in the 1970s as part of broader campaign finance reforms targeting corruption.
It has also invalidated limits on committees’ spending made independent from campaigns under the First Amendment — still, declining to do so for coordinated expenses.
Vance and Chabot lost in the lower courts, but they hope now they’ll face better odds before the Supreme Court.