Washington D.C. Supreme Court - McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission

Dear Constituent:

Thank you for writing to me about the Supreme Court’s decision in McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission. I appreciate your letter and welcome the opportunity to respond.

As a longtime supporter of campaign finance reform, I have serious concerns about the Supreme Court’s ruling in this case. The Supreme Court, in a series of 5-to-4 decisions over the last seven years, has dramatically expanded the influence of money in politics, most prominently in the Court’s Citizens United decision in 2010. On April 2, 2014, the Supreme Court issued another narrow, 5-to-4 decision striking down a campaign finance restriction. The decision in McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission holds that aggregate limits on federal campaign contributions violate the First Amendment. The ruling overturns established precedent from a 1976 decision called Buckley v. Valeo, which had upheld aggregate contribution limits.

The effects of this decision on our campaign finance system may be significant. Justice Stephen Breyer wrote the lead dissenting opinion. That opinion says: “in the absence of limits on aggregate political contributions, donors can and likely will find ways to channel millions of dollars to parties and to individual candidates, producing precisely the kind of ‘corruption’ or ‘appearance of corruption’ that previously led the Court to hold aggregate limits constitutional.” Justice Breyer further wrote that the ruling “eviscerates our Nation’s campaign finance laws.”

You may be pleased to know that I am a cosponsor of S.J.Res. 19, introduced by Senator Tom Udall (D-NM) on June 18, 2013. This measure would amend the U.S. Constitution to allow Congress to regulate the raising and spending of money for federal political campaigns, including by corporations engaging in so-called independent expenditures through outside groups like Super-PACs. It would also allow states to regulate campaign financing in state elections in the same way. On July 10, 2014, I joined my colleagues on the Senate Judiciary Committee to pass S.J.Res. 19 out of the Committee by a vote of 10 to 8. The legislation is now awaiting consideration by the full Senate. I hope that the Senate will move quickly to consider this important legislation.

Again, thank you for writing. If you have any additional questions or comments, please contact my office in Washington, D.C. at (202) 224-3841. Best regards.

Sincerely yours,


Dianne Feinstein
United States Senator

Further information about my position on issues of concern to California and the nation are available at my website, feinstein.senate.gov. And please visit my YouTube, Facebook and Twitter for more ways to communicate with me.

o.o.o.o.

Robert Riechel

http://patch.com/users/robert-riechel

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Source Credit:  U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein

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