Federal Election Commission v. National Conservative Political Action Committee et al.

Decided March 18, 1985. William Hubbs Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 83-1032 · 470 U.S. 480 (1985) · Cited 388 times

We don’t yet publish a summary of this opinion — read the official text below for the Court’s holding and reasoning.

How the Justices voted

Decided 7–2.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Buckley v. Valeo · 424 U.S. 1 (1976)
• Federal Election Commission v. National Right to Work Committee · 459 U.S. 197 (1982)
• First Nat. Bank of Boston v. Bellotti · 435 U.S. 765 (1978)
• McCulloch v. Sociedad Nacional De Marineros De Honduras · 372 U.S. 10 (1963)
• Citizens Against Rent Control/Coalition for Fair Housing v. City of Berkeley · 454 U.S. 290 (1981)
• California Medical Ass'n v. Federal Election Commission · 453 U.S. 182 (1981)
• Broadrick v. Oklahoma · 413 U.S. 601 (1973)
• New York Times Co. v. Sullivan · 376 U.S. 254 (1964)
• Connick Ex Rel. Parish of Orleans v. Myers · 461 U.S. 138 (1983)
• Roth v. United States · 354 U.S. 476 (1957)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Alabama Ex Rel. Patterson · 357 U.S. 449 (1958)
• Members of the City Council of Los Angeles v. Taxpayers for Vincent · 466 U.S. 789 (1984)
• United States Postal Service v. Council of Greenburgh Civic Associations · 453 U.S. 114 (1981)
• Posadas v. National City Bank · 296 U.S. 497 (1936)
• Kaiser Steel Corp. v. Mullins · 455 U.S. 72 (1982)
• Bread Political Action Committee v. Federal Election Commission · 455 U.S. 577 (1982)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission · 558 U.S. 310 (2010)
• McCutcheon v. Federal Election Comm'n · 572 U.S. 185 (2014)
• Colorado Republican Federal Campaign Committee v. Federal Election Commission · 518 U.S. 604 (1996)
• Federal Election Commission v. Massachusetts Citizens for Life, Inc. · 479 U.S. 238 (1986)
• Nixon v. Shrink Missouri Government PAC · 528 U.S. 377 (2000)
• Davis v. Federal Election Commission · 554 U.S. 724 (2008)
• Austin v. Michigan State Chamber of Commerce · 494 U.S. 652 (1990)
• Randall v. Sorrell · 548 U.S. 230 (2006)
• Walters v. National Assn. of Radiation Survivors · 473 U.S. 305 (1985)
• Federal Election Commission v. Colorado Republican Federal Campaign Committee · 533 U.S. 431 (2001)
• McConnell v. Federal Election Commission · 540 U.S. 93 (2003)
• Federal Election Commission v. Beaumont · 539 U.S. 146 (2003)
• Federal Election Commission v. NRA Political Victory Fund · 513 U.S. 88 (1994)
• Federal Election Comm'n v. Ted Cruz · 596 U.S. 289 (2022)
• Ward v. Rock Against Racism · 491 U.S. 781 (1989)
• Hartford Underwriters Insurance v. Union Planters Bank, N. A. · 530 U.S. 1 (2000)
• Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc. v. Nation Enterprises · 471 U.S. 539 (1985)
• MacKey v. Lanier Collection Agency & Service, Inc. · 486 U.S. 825 (1988)
• Federal Election Commission v. Akins · 524 U.S. 11 (1998)
• United States v. National Treasury Employees Union · 513 U.S. 454 (1995)
• Regions Hospital v. Shalala · 522 U.S. 448 (1998)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

Explore from here

William Hubbs Rehnquist’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: the U.S. Reports via govinfo.gov; authoring Justice and vote lineup from the Supreme Court Database (Washington University). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).