When the en banc Sixth Circuit decided this case, I wrote: “I have been waiting for this issue to get back to the Supreme Court for a while, and this is just the vehicle that could get it there. I don’t expect the Court, if it considers the issue, to uphold the limits. The Sixth Circuit saw itself bound by existing Supreme Court precedent in a way that the Supreme Court itself will not be.”

Now the case has reached the Supreme Court. Here is the cert. petition (via Balls and Strikes).

The federal government’s response is due Jan. 6 (unless there’s an extension), and I expect the government will oppose the cert. grant, arguing that the NRSC’s argument is foreclosed by existing precedent. The question is whether Trump’s DOJ will do a 180 in the case should the Supreme Court agree to hear it.

I’ll have more to say down the line on what it would mean for money in politics in the U.S. should the Supreme Court agree with the Republicans.