On Monday, May 16, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down part of a federal law that governed political candidates’ recouping of campaign loans, handing Texas Senator Ted Cruz a personal victory.
The court ruled in a 6-3 decision that part of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) of 2002 is unconstitutional.
Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the majority, asserted that the act “does limit First Amendment electoral expression” and “burdens basic political expression without appropriate justification.”
The BCRA placed a cap of $250,000 on how much a candidate who loaned money to their campaign before their election could pay themselves back using money raised after the election.
In 2018, Ted Cruz loaned his senatorial campaign $260,000 one day before winning reelection. He then sued the Federal Election Commission in an effort to recoup the total amount with money raised after he was elected.
NBC News and The Texas Tribune both report that Cruz intentionally loaned himself that specific amount to establish legal standing so he could sue to overturn the law.
Cruz had loaned his senatorial campaign over $1 million of his own money in 2012 and found that he could not recoup $545,000 of that loan because of the BCRA. He sought to challenge the law following that experience.
The court’s majority ultimately reasoned that setting a recoupment cap on these campaign loans would risk a candidate not being able to fully recover the loan amount.
“That risk,” Chief Justice Roberts reasoned, “in turn may deter some candidates from loaning money to their campaigns when they otherwise would, reducing the amount of political speech.”
Writing for the dissenting justices, Justice Elena Kegan defended the BCRA.
“Political contributions that will line a candidate’s own pockets, given after his election to office, pose a special danger of corruption. The candidate has a more-than-usual interest in obtaining the money (to replenish his personal finances), and is now in a position to give something in return. The donors well understand his situation, and are eager to take advantage of it. In short, everyone’s incentives are stacked to enhance the risk of dirty dealing,” she wrote.
It is unclear whether Cruz will be allowed to recover the remaining $545,000 of his campaign loan in 2012.