Hearing Underscores the Need to Pass For the People Act to Shine a Light on Dark Money
End Citizens United // Let America Vote Action Fund President Tiffany Muller released the below statement following Chairman Sheldon Whitehouse’s (D-RI) and the Senate Subcommittee on Federal Courts, Oversight, Agency Action and Federal Rights’ hearing on “What’s Wrong with the Supreme Court: The Big-Money Assault on Our Judiciary”:
“The outsized influence of special interests over the federal judiciary, especially over the Supreme Court, is distorting the foundations of our judicial system. Mega-donors and corporate interests have used dark money groups to build increasingly hyper partisan courts that have in turn allowed unlimited political spending and rampant voter suppression to jeopardize our basic rights as Americans.
“Today’s hearing, led by Chairman Whitehouse, is a critical step in exposing the sway special interests have over the system. It also makes clear the urgent need for the U.S. Senate to follow the House in passing the For the People Act (S. 1), which shines a light on dark money by requiring groups that spend money on political ads to disclose their large donors.
“Throughout his career, Senator Whitehouse has been a fierce advocate of rooting out the influence of dark money in Washington, particularly as it impacts the judicial system, to ensure every voice can be heard equally. We’re grateful for his leadership and urge the Senate to address the outsized influence special interests have over the federal judiciary system by passing the For the People Act.”
In October of 2020, Senators Sheldon Whitehouse, Debbie Stabenow, Ron Wyden, Tom Udall and Senate Democrats released their Captured Courts report, which revealed how the proliferation of dark money spending on behalf of conservative judicial nominees has led to the erosion of many of the country’s most important campaign finance and voter protection laws, and further opened the door for even more unlimited dark money spending by special interests.
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