On May 21, the Indiana Libertarian Party, the Libertarian National Congressional Committee, and an individual donor who wishes to support the Libertarian Party congressional campaign filed a lawsuit to overturn part of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance restrictions on political parties. The case is Rufer v Federal Election Commission, 1:14cv-837. The case was assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Christopher Cooper in the District of Columbia. He has only been a judge for two months.

The lawsuit seeks to overturn the contribution limits for individual donors who wish to support the party’s federal campaign efforts, but only in instances at which the donation would be spent independently of the candidate being supported. The lawsuit is being done for the plaintiffs by the Coolidge-Reagan Foundation. The lawsuit is very similar to a lawsuit filed a few days later by the Republican Party. PAC’s can now received unlimited donations to support federal candidates, if the spending is independent of the candidate. The two lawsuits argue that there is no reason to treat political parties less favorably than PAC’s.