In the United States v. Wurzbach case of 1929, Harry M. Wurzbach, a member of Congress from Texas, was indicted for conspiring to solicit and accept political contributions from federal employees in violation of federal law. The Supreme Court had to decide whether or not members of Congress were exempted from this statute due to their positions as public officials. In its decision, the court ruled that no such exemption existed for members of Congress and therefore upheld Wurzbach's indictment under the statute prohibiting solicitation and acceptance of political contributions by persons receiving compensation or payment from the United States government.

In the dissenting opinion for United States v. Wurzbach, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. argued that Congress did not have the power to regulate primary elections under Article I, Section 4 of the Constitution. He contended that primaries were a matter of state law and thus outside federal jurisdiction unless they directly affected federal elections or offices. According to him, since there was no evidence in this case showing that corruption in Texas's primary election had influenced its general election or any federal officeholder’s actions, it fell beyond congressional authority to regulate it under the Federal Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Therefore, he disagreed with majority's decision which upheld Harry M. Wurzbach's conviction for violating FCPA by accepting campaign contributions exceeding legal limits during his primary run for re-election as U.S Representative from Texas.