The Institute for Free Speech has filed an amicus brief in National Republican Senatorial Committee v. FEC, urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit to strike down the Federal Election Campaign Act’s (FECA) limits on coordinated expenditures between political party committees and their candidates.
The brief, written by Institute founder Bradley A. Smith and Senior Attorney Brett Nolan, explains that “FECA’s limits on coordinated party expenditures fight against a harm that either does not exist, or that is effectively managed by other more narrowly drawn rules.”
“When more than half the states manage to operate elections without restricting coordinated party expenditures and without giving rise to any relevant quid pro quo, it is hard to believe that the law is ‘necessary to prevent [the] anticipated harm,’” notes the brief.
Separately, the brief explains that federal earmarking rules, which treat contributions to parties where the donor designates or suggests a preferred candidate as direct contributions to that candidate, already prevent circumvention of individual contribution limits.
“Thus, by ensuring that parties retain ‘independent’ control over their expenditures, the earmarking rules guard against the ‘anticipated harm’ that donors may circumvent contribution limits by giving to the parties,” the brief notes. “[F]ederal law already prevents that risk with a much narrower regulation that does not unnecessarily restrict the speech of political parties.”
The brief urges the Sixth Circuit to strike down the limits and vindicate the speech rights of political parties.
To read the amicus brief in the case National Republican Senatorial Committee v. FEC, click here. To read our full press release on the filing, click here.
