Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Summer Lee Introduce The Abolish Super PAC Act

[Nanjeanne]

Two progressive lawmakers on Wednesday unveiled new legislation aimed at stomping out the existence of so-called Super PACs, the dark money groups that allow corporations and ultra-wealthy individuals to to spend limitless sums of money on US elections.

The Abolish Super PACs Act, introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.), would cap Super PAC donations from individuals at $5,000 in an effort to end billionaires’ outsize influence over the US political process.

According to a fact sheet summarizing the bill shared with Common Dreams, the legislation is necessary to close the “judicially created loophole” that resulted from the 2010 US Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. FEC, which allowed “staggering sums of money” to be spent in every election since.

“At a time when billionaire oligarchs and corporations are spending billions of dollars to buy elections and erode democracy,” the document argues, “we must put an end to the corrupting influence of money in politics and ensure that American elections are decided by the people, not just the top 1%.”

https://www.commondreams.org/news/abolish-super-pacs-act]

FACT SHEET

Abolish Super PACs Act
Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Summer Lee

At a time when billionaire oligarchs and corporations are spending billions of dollars to buy elections and erode democracy, we must put an end to the corrupting influence of money in politics and ensure that American elections are decided by the people, not just the top 1%.
Congress never intended to create Super PACs and should close the judicially created loophole that allows them to exist. The Supreme Court's 2010 decision in Citizens United v. FEC allowed corporations and other outside groups to spend unlimited amounts of money on elections through political action committees (PACs) as long as the spending was not directly coordinated with candidates. A federal appeals court followed that decision by allowing unlimited contributions to PACs.
These decisions created the super PACs that dominate American politics today, giving billionaire oligarchs and corporations permission to spend billions of dollars to buy elections and influence the direction of public policy.

Billionaires and corporations have spent staggering sums of money in the wake of those decisions to elect their candidates of choice. Since Citizens United, election spending by billionaires has skyrocketed by more than 16,000%, reaching a total of $2.6 billion during the 2024 election cycle. Elon Musk alone spent more than $280 million to support Donald Trump and the Republican Party in 2024, proudly proclaiming, "Without me, Trump would have lost the election." And, in the 2026 election cycle, AL, crypto, and AIPAC-aligned Super PACs are planning to spend more than $500 million.

Unlimited contributions by billionaire oligarchs to super PACs corrupt our politics, make politicians more beholden to the billionaire class, and undermine Americans' confidence in the political system.
Congress must act to ensure that billionaires do not continue to determine the outcome of our elections.
The Abolish Super PACs Act would significantly limit the corrupting influence of money in politics by capping the contribution limit of individuals to super PACs at $5,000, effectively abolishing them and putting power back into the hands of the people.

The Abolish Super PACs Act is endorsed by Common Defense, Court Accountability, Dream Defenders, End Citizens United, Equal Citizens, Free Speech For People, Gen-Z for Change, Grassroots Global Justice Action Fund, IfNotNow Movement, Jewish Voice for Peace Action, Justice is Global Action, Move to Amend, MPower Change Action Fund, National Iranian American Council Action, Our Revolution, Peace Action, RepresentUs, RootsAction, Rural Organizing, Sunrise Movement, US Campaign for Palestinian Rights Action, and Women's March.

https://www.sanders.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/Abolish-Super-PACs-Act-One-Pager.pdf]

[Passages]

1. It's interesting who is not supportive of the measure.