Paul J. Weeks
83 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 1097
Over forty years ago, Congress first enacted a comprehensive scheme to
regulate money in federal elections. This scheme included disclosure requirements
and tight monetary limitations on the various political actors who
sought to influence elections. The Supreme Court’s initial response to the
comprehensive scheme upheld the tight contribution limits placed on primary
political actors—candidates and parties—but prohibited on First Amendment
grounds the limits on election expenditures made by independent actors. Over
the ensuing years, the Court’s jurisprudence has trended toward greater constitutional
protection of independent political money, increasingly fortifying it
from regulation through ordinary legislative means. At the same time, while
candidates and parties remain subject to stringent disclosure requirements,
Congress has failed to close loopholes in the disclosure requirements that allow
independent political groups to conceal the source of their money. The
increasingly divergent regulatory structure for political money has led to an
outsized influence of independent political groups relative to the candidates
and parties. This outsized influence hamstrings the mediating role played by
candidates and parties, which decreases the ability of elected officials to be
responsive to their constituents and exacerbates gridlock in Congress. This
Note proposes that Congress amend the Federal Election Campaign Act to
require the disclosure of donors to independent political groups that spend to
influence elections and to relax the tight contribution limits in place on candidates
and parties. Both prongs of the proposal remain available to Congress
under the Court’s decisions and together will cause the flow of political money
from independent groups to candidates and parties. With greater parity in the
campaign finance rules, candidate and party autonomy will increase. Increased
autonomy allows them to more closely tailor their positions to their
constituents, reducing gridlock and increasing accountability.
