WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court seems likely to eliminate one of the remaining checks on money in politics, a decision in line with recent rulings favoring free speech rights over fears about potential corruption.
In a challenge involving Vice President JD Vance, the court considered on Dec. 9 whether to scrap a rule aimed at preventing wealthy donors from bypassing limits on what they can give candidates by funneling money through political parties.
During two hours of oral arguments, the court’s conservatives did not attack the GOP’s argument that the law and the campaign finance landscape have changed since 2001, when the court upheld that rule.
"The coordinated party spending limits are at war with this court's recent First Amendment cases," Noel Francisco, the lawyer representing the Republican Party, told the justices.
Francisco had the backing of the Justice Department, which stopped defending the federal rule after President Donald Trump took office.
