A federal appeals court has blocked a rule banning so-called super PACs from naming their groups after candidates for office.
A three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that the Federal Election Commission appeared to have violated the First Amendment by prohibiting most uses of candidates in an unauthorized committee’s name, as well as in the names of “projects” such groups use to raise funds.
The decision appears to break down another of the rather flimsy barriers between candidates and ostensibly unconnected super PACs supporting those candidates but raising donations in unlimited amounts. Candidates are already permitted to appear at fundraising events for those PACs, as long as they don’t personally solicit donations in excess of federal limits.
Given the conservative tilt in this panel, maybe the government will appeal to the full DC Circuit en banc?