Press Release: 2025-01-22

Citizens United at 15: CEOs Have Front Row Seats at Swearing In

 

Published: Jan 21, 2025

MEDIA CONTACT

David Vance

National Media Strategist 

dvance@commoncause.org

WASHINGTON—Today is the fifteenth anniversary of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United v. FEC, which allowed corporations and special interests to spend unlimited amounts of money to influence our elections. The following is a statement from Common Cause President & CEO Virginia Kase Solomón:

“Fifteen years ago, the Supreme Court put democracy on the auction block with Citizens United.

“The results have been absolutely disastrous but completely predictable. The ruling tilted the scales even further to favor the very richest Americans at the expense of everybody else in the country. Yesterday, in a telling moment, Donald Trump was flanked by billionaires like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg, ahead of President Trump’s own incoming cabinet.

“The oligarchs no longer feel the need to stay out of sight after they buy favor with the politicians they pay to elect. Now they are given seats of honor and positions of power in the government. They paid for their seats at the table and now they are looking to end regulation as we know it.

“And while the billionaires stood with Trump yesterday in the Capitol rotunda the people, whose votes won Trump the election, stood outside in the cold.

“But there are solutions to fix the problems of big money and secret money in our elections. In recent years, only Senate Republican filibusters have stopped real campaign finance reform from passing at the federal level.

“This is a fight that we will continue until we make sure that every American – no matter the size of their wallet – can have a voice in government, a say in how their taxes are spent and in the direction of the nation.

“This is a fight to ensure that our voices are not drowned out by big corporations and special interests that buy influence with legislators to increase their profits while polluting our air, our water, and our food.”