$4.3 Billion in Undisclosed Spending. Who's Pushing Our Elections?

I am writing as your constituent to urge you to co-sponsor and vote for the DISCLOSE Act of 2026 (H.R. 7802 / S. 3991), introduced by Representative Chris Pappas and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse. When the Supreme Court allowed unlimited corporate political spending in 2010, Justice Anthony Kennedy's majority opinion rested on one core assumption: that prompt public disclosure would let voters and shareholders hold spenders accountable. Justice Kennedy has since admitted that disclosure "is not working the way it should." He was right to be worried: dark money spending has topped $4.3 billion since that ruling, and voters still have no way of knowing who's behind most of it. Free and fair elections require basic transparency. Today, hundreds of millions of dollars pour into American elections through opaque 501(c)(4) organizations, shell corporations, and shadowy political groups that shield their true financial backers from public scrutiny. When big spenders can conceal their identities behind innocuous-sounding front groups, voters are deprived of the essential context needed to evaluate political messaging. This is not a partisan issue — it is a matter of electoral and national security: - Foreign Interference: Anonymous domestic shell LLCs create dangerous backdoors that hostile foreign nations and illicit entities can exploit to funnel money into U.S. federal and local elections without detection. - Rare Cross-Ideological Consensus: In Citizens United itself, the Supreme Court ruled 8-1 that prompt, full disclosure of political spending is constitutional — a majority spanning the Court's liberal and conservative wings, from Kennedy, Roberts, Scalia, and Alito to Stevens, Ginsburg, Breyer, and Sotomayor. Justice Kennedy wrote that disclosure "enables the electorate to make informed decisions and give proper weight to different speakers and messages." Only Justice Thomas dissented on this point. - Voter Accountability: Secret spending allows special interests to quietly lobby for lucrative carve-outs, regulatory waivers, and backroom favors while hiding that influence from the taxpayers who pay the bills. The DISCLOSE Act addresses this by establishing straightforward rules: 1. Mandate Transparency: Require Super PACs, 501(c)(4) groups, and corporations spending over $10,000 in federal elections or judicial nomination fights to promptly disclose donors contributing more than $10,000. 2. Ban Shell Transfers: Close loopholes that allow entities to bounce funds between intermediary accounts to mask the original source of money. 3. Block Foreign Money: Strengthen federal enforcement barring foreign nationals from funding political advertising and state referenda. Sunlight is the best disinfectant for our democracy. I urge you to support the DISCLOSE Act and ensure our government answers to the American people, not anonymous spenders.