How did the McCutcheon ruling change the amount an individual could give across multiple federal candidates?

In McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission (2014), the Supreme Court struck down the aggregate limits that had previously restricted the total amount an individual could contribute to all federal candidates, party committees, and political action committees (PACs) combined during a two-year election cycle.1

Prior to this ruling, the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) imposed two types of restrictions: "base limits," which capped contributions to a single candidate or committee, and "aggregate limits," which capped the total sum an individual could donate across all federal candidates and committees. By invalidating the aggregate limits, the Court removed the ceiling on the total number of candidates or committees an individual could support, provided that each individual contribution remained within the established base limits.1

The Court concluded that these aggregate limits did not sufficiently serve the government's interest in preventing corruption or the appearance of it, and therefore violated First Amendment protections regarding political speech. While the ruling eliminated the total cap on aggregate giving, it did not alter the base limits on how much an individual may contribute to any single candidate or committee.1