In 2001, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Federal Election Commission v Colorado Republican Campaign Committee, 533 U.S. 431, upheld limits on how much national and state political parties may spend in support of their own congressional nominees (unless the national party spending is not coordinated with the candidate). The vote was 5-4. The Republican National Senate and House Campaign Committees are in court, hoping to win a reversal of the 2001 ruling.

The Republican commitees filed in U.S. District Court in the southern district of Ohio in 2022. On January 19, 2024, the U.S. District Court sent the case to the Sixth Circuit. Challenges to most federal campaign finance laws are entitled to be heard in Appeals Courts, bypassing trial courts, if the case is deemed not to be frivolous. The FEC had argued that the case is frivolous because the issue had been decided in 2001, but the U.S. District Court still sent the case on to the Sixth Circuit. The FEC had also argued that the case should be in the Circuit Court in Washington, D.C., but that argument was also rejected.

The Republican campaign committees have many amici on their side. One is filed by the states of Ohio, Alaska, Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah (all these states have Republican Attorneys General). One is filed by U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell. One is filed by the Institute for Free Speech. In the Sixth Circuit the case is number 24-3051.