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The year was 2018. Ariana Grande’s Sweetener topped the charts. Avengers: Infinity War smashed records. The U.S. midterm elections were in full swing, with Republicans on the way to holding the Senate and Democrats poised to take control of the House. And the day before Sen. Ted Cruz won his reelection, he loaned his campaign $260,000 out of his own pocket.
The Texas Republican’s loan now sits at the center of a Supreme Court case that could impact the role money plays in politics and determine how candidates recoup personal funds they spent on their own races. Federal law dictates that if candidates loan money to their campaign, they can’t pay themselves back more than $250,000 using funds raised after Election Day—meaning funds from donors who know the outcome of the race. (Candidates can pay themselves back as much money as they’d like using funds raised before the election, as long as they do so within 20 days after the election.)
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Cruz’s campaign paid him back $250,000, but he didn’t get that last $10,000. He and his campaign sued the Federal Election Commission (FEC), arguing that the loan repayment cap discourages candidates from loaning money to their campaigns and limits political speech, violating the First Amendment. In response, the U.S. Solicitor General argues that the cap is meant to prevent quid pro quo corruption, and that post-election donations that reimburse candidates are inherently more corrupting than other donations because they go directly into a candidate’s pocket. A district court sided with Cruz and struck down the law in June 2021. The Supreme Court will now hear the case on Jan. 19 and make the ultimate determination about whether the cap can stand.
It’s unclear if Cruz will get his $10,000 back even if he wins the case. But the results of the suit could span far beyond the Texas Senator. Progressive advocates argue that if the law is overturned, deep-pocketed donors could buy favor with elected…
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Source : time
