Campaign Finance

The Supreme Court heard a GOP-backed challenge to federal limits on coordinated party expenditures — brought by then‑Senate candidate JD Vance, then‑Rep. Steve Chabot and the NRSC/NRCC — seeking to overturn 2023–24 cycle caps roughly $61,800–$123,000 for House races and $123,600–$3.7 million for Senate races. Justices Thomas, Alito and Kavanaugh signaled openness to striking the limits (with Kavanaugh warning that current rules have weakened parties relative to outside groups and Roberts calling the coordinated/direct distinction a “fiction”), while Sotomayor warned removal could enable corruption; during argument Thomas pressed Democratic lawyer Marc Elias on whether party payments are protected speech (Elias called such payments “symbolic speech” treated as contributions), the FEC under Trump agreed the limits should be struck, Roman Martinez was appointed to defend the law, and the Principal Deputy Solicitor General rejected the view that the caps were imposed solely to prevent corruption.

Fox News reports that former Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, running to reclaim his seat in 2026, has raised at least $1.2 million from Hollywood-linked donors per FEC filings and will attend a Los Angeles fundraiser this week hosted by Sony Pictures CEO Tom Rothman and his wife, with a suggested $10,000 contribution. The piece lists prominent donors including Aaron Sorkin, Will Ferrell, Jeff Bridges, Michael Douglas, Danny DeVito and Elizabeth Banks, and notes prior Q3 data showing a large share of out-of-state contributions.