620
Opinion of Breyer, J.
word "coordinated" to describe the Party Expenditure Provision's limitations, see, e. g., FEC Advisory Op. 1984-15, 1 CCH Fed. Election Camp. Fin. Guide ¶ 5766, p. 11,069 (May 31, 1984) (AO 1984-15); FEC Advisory Op. 1988-22, 2 CCH Fed. Election Camp. Fin. Guide ¶ 5932, p. 11,471, n. 4 (July 5, 1988) (AO 1988-22); (3) one FEC Advisory Opinion that says explicitly in a footnote that "coordination with candidates is presumed and 'independence' precluded," ibid.; and (4) a statement by this Court that "[p]arty committees are considered incapable of making 'independent' expenditures," Democratic Senatorial Campaign Comm., supra, at 28-29, n. 1.
The Government argues, on the basis of these materials,
that the FEC has made an "empirical judgment that party officials will as a matter of course consult with the party's candidates before funding communications intended to influence the outcome of a federal election." Brief for Respondent 27. The FEC materials, however, do not make this empirical judgment. For the most part those materials use the word "coordinated" as a description that does not necessarily deny the possibility that a party could also make independent expenditures. See, e. g., AO 1984-15, ¶ 5766, at 11,069. We concede that one Advisory Opinion says, in a footnote, that "coordination with candidates is presumed." AO 1988-22, ¶ 5932, at 11,471, n. 4. But this statement, like the others, appears without any internal or external evidence that the FEC means it to embody an empirical judgment (say, that parties, in fact, hardly ever spend money independently) or to represent the outcome of an empirical investigation. Indeed, the statute does not require any such investigation, for it applies both to coordinated and to independent expenditures alike. See § 441a(d)(3) (a "political party . . . may not make any expenditure" in excess of the limits (emphasis added)). In any event, language in other FEC Advisory Opinions suggests the opposite, namely, that sometimes, in fact, parties do make independent expendi-
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