Must-read Roll Call:
Von Spakovsky, who manages the Election Law Reform Initiative at the conservative Heritage Foundation, says he’s hopeful that McConnell and Trump, along with a Republican House, will greatly increase the limits on donations to party committees and candidates, or undo the limits altogether. Individual donors can give no more than $2,700 directly to candidates per election in the 2016 cycle.
He believes that Trump’s aides and advisers, including lawyer Donald McGahn, another former FEC commissioner who advocates for deregulation, reveal where Trump is on the issue. McGahn on Friday was named general counsel of the president-elect’s transition team….
Trump’s election and the continuing GOP control of the Senate also mean that the next Supreme Court justice is expected to be a conservative, along the lines of the late Justice Antonin Scalia. Liberals had viewed the vacancy, left by Scalia’s death on Feb. 13, as an opportunity for a redo of court decisions such as Citizens United v. FEC, which helped usher in big-money super PACs that can accept unlimited contributions from corporations, unions and individuals.
Bopp said Friday he was filing an appeal to the high court in a case, Louisiana Republican Party v. FEC, that challenges soft money bans in state and local parties.
“With the prospect of a Trump appointment of a conservative to the court, that case has very bright prospects,” Bopp said.
As I wrote right after the election: Get Ready for the Supreme Court to Strike Down the Rest of McCain-Feingold, the Soft Money Ban.