Email from The Institute for Free Speech Institute hails ruling in NRSC v. FEC as a victory for free political speech For Immediate Release: June 30, 2026   Media Contact: Name: Tom Garrett Phone: 202-301-9200 Email: [email protected] Institute for Free Speech Applauds Supreme Court Ruling in Campaign Finance Case Institute hails ruling in NRSC v. FEC as a victory for free political speech Washington, DC — The Institute for Free Speech today praised the Supreme Court’s opinion in National Republican Senatorial Committee v. FEC, which struck down federal limits on coordinated expenditures between political parties and their candidates as a violation of the First Amendment. The ruling overturns the Court’s 2001 decision in FEC v. Colorado Republican Federal Campaign Committee (“Colorado II”), which IFS has long argued rested on a flawed factual premise and an outdated, deferential standard of review. “This is a landmark victory for the First Amendment and for the millions of Americans who exercise their political rights through the parties they support,” said Institute Senior Attorney Brett Nolan, who co-authored IFS’s amicus briefs in the case. “Colorado II was built on a prediction that unlimited party coordination would fuel quid pro quo corruption. That prediction was wrong. As the Supreme Court recognized today, more than half the states have operated for years without restricting coordinated party expenditures, and there is no evidence of the corruption the federal government fears. Today, the Court corrected a two-decade-old mistake.” IFS’s Supreme Court brief demonstrated that at least 17 states that restrict individual contributions impose virtually no limits on how parties financially coordinate with their own candidates—yet none have experienced the circumvention of contribution limits that Colorado II predicted “beyond serious doubt.” At oral argument in December, justices pressed the government’s counsel on why federal restrictions were necessary when the states’ experience offered no evidence to justify them. “Ever since the 2007 decision in Wisconsin Right to Life v. FEC, the Court has been slowly but steadily returning campaign-finance law to its First Amendment roots. Today’s decision is a logical next step in that project,” added Institute for Free Speech Founder and Chairman Bradley A. Smith, a former Chairman of the FEC and co-author of the Institute’s amicus briefs. “Colorado II was an aberration—it applied a watered-down form of scrutiny that gave the government a free hand to restrict party speech. That made no constitutional sense, and the Court has now said so. Political parties exist to support their candidates. Preventing them from doing so freely and effectively is an affront to the First Amendment.” IFS’s brief also warned that the Sixth Circuit’s decision below had, perhaps inadvertently, created a new, more deferential tier of scrutiny applicable only to coordinated party expenditures—one that was inconsistent with the Court’s more recent decisions in FEC v. Ted Cruz for Senate and McCutcheon v. FEC. By overruling Colorado II, the Court eliminates that confusion and restores coherent First Amendment principles across campaign-finance law. Today’s decision is a victory for every American who believes that the right to pool resources in support of a shared political message lies at the heart of the First Amendment. Case resources: Supreme Court opinion in NRSC v. FEC Institute for Free Speech merits amicus brief Institute for Free Speech amicus brief in support of granting cert Brett Nolan’s expert analysis on the Sixth Circuit’s decision in NRSC Institute for Free Speech case page on NRSC Institute for Free Speech “Free Speech Arguments” podcast page on NRSC argument About the Institute for Free Speech  The Institute for Free Speech promotes and defends the political speech rights to freely speak, assemble, publish, and petition the government guaranteed by the First Amendment. Visit us at www.ifs.org Follow the Institute for Free Speech: The Institute for Free Speech | 1150 Connecticut Ave., NW Suite 801 | Washington, DC 20036 US Unsubscribe | Update Profile | Constant Contact Data Notice