National Republican Senatorial Committee v. Federal Election Commission

Former U.S. Senator Russ Feingold and Law Forward filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court urging the justices to reject the latest challenge to campaign finance regulations in National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) v. Federal Election Commission (FEC).

The case was initiated in 2022 when the NRSC and two Republican candidates, including then-Sen. J.D. Vance, sued the FEC in Ohio. Petitioners argued in favor of striking down federal limits on coordinated contributions from political parties to candidates.

In the amicus brief, Feingold argues that this move would be another step in a systematic, decades-long effort to dismantle campaign finance laws that protect against corruption and preserve democratic representation. 

The brief uses Wisconsin as a case study, detailing how the state’s elimination of contribution limits to political parties and coordinated spending restrictions since 2015 has led to a flood of money that effectively renders candidate contribution limits meaningless. Recent Wisconsin gubernatorial and Supreme Court elections have shattered fundraising records, with tens of millions of dollars transferred from state parties to candidate committees. Most recently, over $100 million was spent in the 2025 Wisconsin Supreme Court race – making it the most expensive judicial race in American history and eclipsing previous records set by the $10 million spent on Wisconsin’s 2020 state Supreme Court race and the nearly $51 million spent on Wisconsin’s 2023 Supreme Court race.