What bans soft money in federal campaigns?

The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 bans soft money in federal elections, and it was re-affirmed without comment by the Supreme Court of the United States on 10 June 2010. The soft-money ban limits individual contributions to political parties even if the money is to be spent on activities unrelated to federal elections.

Previously, the Supreme Court upheld the soft-money ban in a 2003 decision, McConnell v. F.E.C. It said there was “no meaningful distinction between the national party committees and the public officials who control them” and so “large soft-money contributions to national parties are likely to create actual or apparent indebtedness on the part of federal officeholders.”