Transcript of NRSC Case Argued Today at SCOTUS Now Available; The Question Appears to Be Not If, But How, The Court Rules Against the Party Coordinated Spending Limit

Here is the transcript.

Back when Citizens United was argued a second time, and Elena Kagan was the Solicitor General, she essentially asked the Supreme Court to lose in the least damaging way. She said : “If you are asking me, Mr. Chief Justice, as to whether the government has a preference as to the way in which it loses, if it has to lose, the answer is yes.”

Today’s NRSC argument raises a similar issue. Although the court-appointed amicus o ffered an off-ramp based on mootness to the Justices, more likely we will see a ruling on the merits, and if so it is hard to imagine a ruling upholding these limits. But there are a few ways to reach this result, with different consequences.

A ruling just striking down the limits on how much states may coordinate with their own candidate