WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court’s conservatives signaled Tuesday they are likely ‍to rule for Republicans and President Trump⁣ by throwing out a Watergate-era limit on campaign funding by political parties.

The court has repeatedly said campaign money is protected⁢ as ⁤free speech, and the new ruling could allow parties to support their candidate’s campaigns with help from wealthy donors.

For the second day in a row, Trump⁣ governance lawyers urged the justices to ⁣ strike down a law passed by Congress. And they appeared to have the⁣ support of most of the conservatives.

the only doubt arose over the question of whether the case ‍was flawed because no current candidate was challenging the limits.

“the parties are very much weakened,” said ⁢Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh. ⁢”This court’s decisions over the years have together reduced the power of political parties, as compared‍ to outside ‍groups, with negative effects on our constitutional democracy.”

He⁢ was referring to rulings that upheld unlimited campaign spending by wealthy donors and so-called super PACs.

In the Citizens United case of 2010, chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and four other conservatives struck down the long-standing limits on campaign spending, including ⁣by corporations and unions. They did so on the ‍theory that such spending was “independent” of ‍candidates and was protected as free speech under ⁢the ‍1st Amendment.

They ⁣said the limits on contributions‍ to candidates were not ⁤affected. Those limits could be justified as of ⁢the danger of corruption where money bought political favors. This triggered a new⁢ era of ever-larger political spending‍ but most of it was separate from ⁤the candidates and the parties.

last year, billionaire elon Musk⁣ spent more than $250 million to support Donald Trump’s campaign for reelection.