FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 13, 2022
Yesterday, senators introduced the DISCLOSE Act, a campaign finance bill that would require an entity that receives more than $10,000 in an election cycle from a single source to publicly identify that source. This legislation would address the dark money flowing into the U.S. political system — more than $1 billion in connection to the 2020 election alone. It would also strengthen restrictions on campaign spending by foreign governments, corporations, and similar entities abroad.
Daniel Weiner, director of the Elections and Government Program at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law, had the following reaction:
“The DISCLOSE Act is strong, carefully crafted legislation that would require transparency for all major campaign donations while leaving smaller donors — and those who give for non-electoral purposes — free to remain anonymous.
“The DISCLOSE Act would also make it much harder for foreign governments and oligarchs to use their money to meddle in U.S. elections.
“The country has needed these reforms for more than a decade, ever since Citizens United and related rulings opened our political system to secret money. Every election cycle, groups that don’t disclose their donors spend hundreds of millions of dollars to elect candidates, making it impossible for Americans to ‘follow the money’ in politics.
“Congress should pass the DISCLOSE Act without delay.”
Related Resources:
- Testimony: “Daniel Weiner on the DISCLOSE Act before the Senate Rules and Administration Committee” (July 19, 2022)
- Analysis: “Corporations and Fixing Campaign Finance" by Lawrence Norden and Daniel Weiner (2021)
- Analysis: “Getting Foreign Funds Out of U.S. Elections” by Lawrence Norden and Ian Vandewalker (2018)
