Federal Elections Campaign Act of 1974 - 602 Words

Following the Watergate scandal, the Federal Elections Campaign Act of 1974 was amended to create the regulatory agency, known as the Federal Elections Commission, in 1975. The duties of the FEC consist largely of enforcing regulation, limitation, and prohibition on financial contributions to federal campaigns, candidates, political parties, and political action committees. The Act has thoroughly set limits on the amount of money a person or committee may donate to the previously mentioned situations. For example, an individual can donate no more than $2,600 to any federal campaign per election, and a combined limit of $10,000 to local and state parties every calendar year. The case at hand involves Shaun McCutcheon challenging the aggregate limits as a violation of the First Amendment right of expression. An Alabaman Conservative businessman, McCutcheon expressed that he wished to donate more than the contributions he was able to make in the last election cycle. He wanted to contrib ute an amount that would stay within base limits but surpass aggregate limits set by the FEC. In distric court, the plaintiffs claimed aggregate limits as unconstitutional and impeding on a First Amendment right. The district court system ruled against the plaintiff, asserting that the government could regulate aggregate limits because it would be preventing corruption or the appearance of corruption. When brought before the Supreme Court, the court’s ruling removed the overall cap that wasShow MoreRelatedHistory Of The Campaign Finance1464 Words   |  6 PagesHistory of The Campaign-Finance in the U.S Campaign finance in the United States is the financing of electoral campaigns at the federal, state, and local levels. At the federal level, campaign finance law is enacted by Congress and enforced by the Federal Election Commission (FEC), an independent federal agency. 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