What did Buckley v. Valeo decide about aggregate campaign-contribution limits?

In the 1976 case Buckley v. Valeo, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) provisions that imposed limits on aggregate contributions to multiple candidates by persons, groups, and political action committees (PACs).1

The Court reasoned that while these limits restricted political activity, they constituted only a "quite modest restraint" on protected speech and association. The justices concluded that these aggregate limits were a necessary "corollary" to the individual base contribution limits, which the Court had already found to be constitutionally valid. By upholding these restrictions, the Court determined that the government had a compelling interest in preventing the reality or appearance of corruption in the political process.12

These aggregate limits remained in effect for decades until they were eventually struck down by the Supreme Court in McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission in 2014.1