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the first case to raise the question, and the Court should defer action until the lower courts have considered it in light of this decision. Pp. 623-626.
Justice Kennedy, joined by The Chief Justice and Justice Scalia, concluded that, on its face, FECA violates the First Amendment when it restricts as a "contribution" a political party's spending "in cooperation, consultation, or concert, with . . . a candidate." 2 U. S. C. § 441a(a)(7)(B)(i). The Court in Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U. S. 1 (per curiam), had no occasion to consider limitations on political parties' expenditures, id., at 58, n. 66, and its reasoning upholding ordinary contribution limitations should not be extended to a case that does. Buckley's central holding is that spending money on one's own speech must be permitted, id., at 44-58, and that is what political parties do when they make the expenditures that § 441a(a)(7)(B)(i) restricts as "contribution[s]." Party spending "in cooperation, consultation, or concer[t] with" a candidate is indistinguishable in substance from expenditures by the candidate or his campaign committee. The First Amendment does not permit regulation of the latter, see id., at 54-59, and it should not permit this regulation of the former. Pp. 626-631.
Justice Thomas, joined by The Chief Justice and Justice Scalia, concluded in Parts I and III that 2 U. S. C. § 441a(d)(3) is unconstitutional not only as applied to petitioners, but also on its face. Pp. 631-634, 644-648. (a) The Court should decide the Colorado Party's facial challenge to § 441a(d)(3), addressing the constitutionality of limits on coordinated expenditures by political parties. That question is squarely before the Court, and the principal opinion's reasons for not reaching it are unpersuasive. In addition, concerns for the chilling of First Amendment expression counsel in favor of resolving the question. Reaching the facial challenge will make clear the circumstances under which political parties may engage in political speech without running afoul of § 441a(d)(3). Pp. 631-634. (b) Section 441a(d)(3) cannot withstand a facial challenge under the framework established by Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U. S. 1 (per curiam). The anticorruption rationale that the Court has relied on is inapplicable in the specific context of campaign funding by political parties, since there is only a minimal threat of corruption when a party spends to support its candidate or to oppose his competitor, whether or not that expenditure is made in concert with the candidate. Parties and candidates have traditionally worked together to achieve their common goals, and when they engage in that work, there is no risk to the Republic. To the contrary, the danger lies in Government suppression of such activity. Pp. 644-648.
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