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                                                                         Order Code RS22644
                                                                                 April 13, 2007





, CRS Report for Congress



           Coordinated Party Expenditures in Federal
                           Elections: An Overview

                                      R. Sam Garrett
                        Analyst in American National Government
                            Government and Finance Division

                                    L. Paige Whitaker
                                    Legislative Attorney
                                  American Law Division

        Summary


             A provision of federal campaign finance law, codified at 2 U.S.C. § 441 a(d), allows
        political party committees to make expenditures on behalf of their general election
        candidates for federal office and specifies limits on such spending. These expenditures,
        often called coordinated party expenditures, are important not only because they
        provide financial support to campaigns, but also because parties and campaigns may
        explicitly discuss how the money will be spent. Although they have long been the major
        source of direct party financial support for campaigns, coordinated expenditures have
        recently been overshadowed by indirect aid via independent expenditures. Those who
        support limits on coordinated party expenditures argue that the limits help reduce
        potential corruption and the amount of money in politics. Opponents maintain that they
        limit parties' and campaigns' ability to communicate and are antiquated, particularly
        because political parties may make unlimited independent expenditures supporting their
        candidates. This report will be updated as events warrant.1


        What Are Coordinated Party Expenditures?

            Federal campaign finance law provides political parties with three major options for
        providing financial support to House, Senate, and presidential candidates: (1) direct
        contributions, (2) coordinated expenditures, and (3) independent expenditures. With
        direct contributions, parties give money (or in the case of in-kind contributions,
        financially valuable services) to individual campaigns, but such contributions are subject
        to strict limits; that is, most party committees are limited to direct contributions of $5,000



        Joseph E. Cantor, Specialist in American National Government, contributed to this report.


                  Congressional Research Service , The Library of Congress
                        Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress

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