Republicans are hopeful about their prospects in a lawsuit that would permit official party committees and candidates to coordinate by throwing out spending restrictions, Politico reported.
If successful, it could be the biggest campaign finance victory since the 2010 Citizens United ruling. Citizens United had sued the Federal Election Commission and in 2010 won a seminal ruling from the Supreme Court that opened the door for vast new spending in politics.
In April 2014, the court revisited the decision and banned aggregate donation limits from individual donors.
If Republicans succeed in the latest lawsuit, it would represent a seismic shift on how tens of millions of campaign funds are spent, according to Politico.
A victory in the little-noticed suit, filed in November by the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee, would do away with the need for House and Senate campaign committees of any party to establish separate operations to make independent expenditures to push candidates with TV ads.
"What they're trying to do is just pry open another barn door to get very large unlimited contributions toward candidates," said Tom Moore, a former longtime aide to a Democrat commissioner on the Federal Election Commission. "This is money that they don't have to raise in small-dollar increments from actual voters."
While the suit was brought by Republicans, it would benefit both party committees. However, the GOP would have an early advantage since it has been trying to match Democrats' small-dollar hauls for Senate candidates.
Politico noted that a relaxation of coordinated spending laws could permit them to have access to a party committee's funds.
The case currently is with Ohio district Judge Douglas Cole, an appointee of then-President Donald Trump, who must determine if it should be sent to the 6th Circuit for review.
"This isn't a partisan issue. For decades, these limits on party-candidate coordination have hamstrung both parties' ability to do exactly what they are meant to do: robustly support their candidates," NRSC general counsel Ryan Dollar said in a statement. "We look forward to the 6th Circuit striking down these limits and restoring power where it belongs."
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.