Democratic lawmakers and liberal interest groups are intensifying their pressure on senators to probe Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch’s views on campaign finance law during his confirmation hearings next week. [...]
Sarbanes pointed to a recent report by the liberal think tank Demos, which examined the Supreme Court’s role on campaign spending in the 2016 elections. Demos concluded that various high court rulings, including the Citizens United decision, led to more than $3 billion in spending during the cycle, or 45 percent of the total spent in 2015-2016.
The report also states that Supreme Court rulings allowed “123 wealthy candidates to spend $161 million on their own campaigns,” according to its summary. The Demos report also credited the high court’s 1976 decision in Buckley v. Valeo, which upheld post-Watergate campaign donation limits but struck down limits on wealthy individuals who self-fund their campaigns.
