McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission
United States Supreme Court
134 S. Ct. 1434 (2014)
Shaun McCutcheon (plaintiff) wanted to donate the individual-candidate maximum to more candidates than federal law's aggregate-contribution limit allowed across all candidates combined. He sued the Federal Election Commission (FEC) (defendant), arguing the aggregate cap was unconstitutional; the FEC defended it as necessary to prevent donors from circumventing individual contribution limits by funneling excess money through committees that would ultimately benefit one candidate. The district court denied McCutcheon's request for a preliminary injunction, and he appealed directly to the Supreme Court.
Whether a law restricting how much money a donor can contribute in total to all political candidates or committees is constitutional under the First Amendment.