Heinrich Blasts Republican Blockade Of DISCLOSE Act
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) voted to advance the DISCLOSE Act, legislation he has long cosponsored to shine a light on the big special interests spending unlimited sums to purchase influence over the American government. The cloture vote failed 49-49 with all Senate Republicans voting against the bill.
“Ever since the Supreme Court wrongly equated money with speech and corporations with people in decisions like Citizens United, we have seen dark, anonymous, and unaccountable money flood into our political system. This lack of transparency threatens the integrity of our political process and opens the door for dangerous disinformation campaigns. It also erodes the public's faith that our elected leaders will do what's right and not following orders from their anonymous donors and political backers,” said Heinrich. “I am committed to restoring transparency to our political process and reducing the influence of dark money in our elections. That’s why I voted Yes today on the DISCLOSE Act, a comprehensive package of campaign finance reforms that would increase transparency in campaign spending. I am frustrated that Senate Republicans once again used the filibuster to prevent us from moving forward on critical legislation to protect our democracy.”
In forceful remarks at the White House on Tuesday, President Joe Biden pressed Senate Republicans to support the DISCLOSE Act.
“Let’s remember: Getting dark money out of our politics has been a bipartisan issue in the past. My deceased friend, John McCain, spent a lot of time fighting for campaign finance reform. For him, it was a matter of fundamental fairness. And he was 100 percent right about that,” said President Biden. “Ultimately, this comes down to public trust. Dark money erodes public trust. We need to protect public trust.”
The DISCLOSE Act requires organizations spending money in elections – including super PACs and 501(c)(4) dark money groups – to promptly disclose donors who have given $10,000 or more during an election cycle.
Special interest influence over elections is a major problem in America. Citizens United and subsequent Supreme Court rulings permit super PACs and certain types of tax-exempt groups, such as 501(c)(4) nonprofits, to spend unlimited sums in elections. Many of those groups are not required to disclose their donors, allowing wealthy corporations and individuals to spend unlimited, undisclosed – or “dark” – money without being tied to the television attack ads and other electioneering activity the groups carry out.
Since Citizens United, spending by corporations, ultra-rich ideologues, and secretive front groups has exploded. Dark money in particular has skyrocketed despite the Supreme Court, by an 8 to 1 margin in Citizens United, upholding disclosure requirements as a means for citizens and shareholders to hold elected officials and corporate spenders accountable.
The DISCLOSE Act, led by U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), contains a number of other important safeguards against special interest influence. The bill includes measures to prevent foreign governments and their agents from interfering in U.S. elections, including in state and local ballot measures. It includes provisions to crack down on the use of shell corporations to hide the identity of the donor by requiring companies spending money in elections to disclose their true owners. And it contains a “stand by your ad” provision requiring organizations to identify those behind political ads – including disclosing an organization’s top five funders at the end of television ads.
In addition to election disclosure requirements, the DISCLOSE Act requires groups that spend money on ads supporting or opposing judicial nominees to disclose their donors. Due to the rise in dark money spending in judicial nominating fights, judges can oversee cases involving litigants who spent millions to get them on the bench, creating the potential for serious conflicts of interest that undermine public confidence in the judicial system. The legislation would identify donors who fund advocacy campaigns aimed at confirming their favored nominees.
The DISCLOSE Act will help Americans understand who is behind the massive uptick in dark money and other special interest spending in recent years. Dark money political spending went from under $5 million in 2006 to more than $1 billion in 2020. Billionaire political spending increased by a factor of 70, from $17 million for the 2008 election to $1.2 billion for 2020.
