Overturn Citizens United

In 2010, the Supreme Court’s Citizens United v. FEC decision unleashed unlimited corporate spending in American elections, fundamentally corrupting our democracy. The ruling held that corporations have the same First Amendment rights as people, allowing them to spend unlimited sums to influence elections through super PACs and dark money groups. Since then, over $2.7 billion flowed through super PACs in the 2024 federal election cycle alone.¹ This is not democracy—it’s an auction where billionaires and corporations purchase political outcomes while ordinary citizens are drowned out.

The consequences are visible in every policy fight: pharmaceutical companies blocking drug price negotiation, fossil fuel interests delaying climate action, Wall Street weakening financial regulations. We have government of, by, and for the highest bidder.

The Democracy for All Amendment

Congressman Jim McGovern (MA-02) has been a champion of constitutional reform to overturn Citizens United. He has repeatedly introduced the Democracy for All Amendment, which would restore the ability of Congress and the states to regulate campaign spending and distinguish between natural persons and artificial entities like corporations.²

In the 116th Congress, McGovern’s Democracy for All Amendment (H.J.Res. 2) garnered 221 bipartisan cosponsors.³ The amendment affirms that:

• The Constitution does not restrict the ability of Congress or states to set reasonable, viewpoint-neutral limitations on campaign contributions and expenditures
• Corporations and other artificial entities do not have the same constitutional rights as natural persons
• The rights protected by the Constitution are the rights of individual human beings

In September 2025, Senator Adam Schiff and Representatives Joe Neguse, Jim McGovern, and Summer Lee introduced the Citizens Over Corporations Amendment (H.J. Res. 122 / S.J. Res. 78), continuing the push for constitutional reform.¹ As McGovern stated: “Elon Musk poured millions into electing Donald Trump and then used the influence he bought to fire federal workers, dismantle USAID, and strip health care from millions. Citizens United gives billionaires like Musk even more power to rig the system for the well-off and well-connected. That’s not a democracy—it’s an auction.”¹

The Free and Fair Elections Amendment

In 2025, Congressman McGovern introduced the Free and Fair Elections Amendment (H.J. Res. 119), which goes further than previous proposals to comprehensively reform campaign finance.⁴ The amendment would:

• Prohibit corporations and other artificial entities from spending money to influence federal elections
• Limit individual contributions to $100 per candidate per election and $1,000 total per election cycle for federal races
• Require Congress to establish a public campaign financing system that provides qualifying candidates with at least 80% of allowable spending
• Allow states to set their own reasonable limits on campaign contributions and spending for state and local elections
• Create civil and criminal penalties for violations, with citizens able to sue directly under the amendment

As McGovern stated: “Since Citizens United, more than $77 billion has poured into U.S. elections, rigging the system for billionaires and big corporations.”⁴

The We the People Amendment

Representative Pramila Jayapal has introduced the We the People Amendment (H.J. Res. 54), which takes a direct approach to ending corporate personhood.⁵ The amendment establishes two core principles:

• Constitutional rights are the rights of natural persons only—corporations and other artificial entities have no rights under the Constitution and are subject to regulation
• Money spent to influence elections is not protected speech under the First Amendment and can be regulated to ensure all Americans have equal access to the political process

The amendment would require federal, state, and local governments to regulate, limit, or prohibit election contributions and expenditures to ensure equal access to the political process regardless of economic status. All permissible contributions and expenditures must be publicly disclosed.

The Path Forward

Amending the Constitution is deliberately difficult, requiring two-thirds approval in both the House and Senate, followed by ratification by 38 states. No amendment has been successfully enacted since 1992. But difficult does not mean impossible—and the scale of corruption unleashed by Citizens United demands nothing less than constitutional remedy.

Twenty-three states have now passed resolutions calling for an amendment.⁶ The movement continues to build, driven by Americans across the political spectrum who understand that unlimited corporate money in politics undermines the very foundation of democratic governance. Every election cycle that passes under the Citizens United regime further entrenches corporate power and makes reform more urgent.

Congress must pass the Free and Fair Elections Amendment, the We the People Amendment, and the Citizens Over Corporations Amendment and send them to the states for ratification. Representative Jake Auchincloss (MA-04) has not cosponsored any of these constitutional amendments, even as fellow Massachusetts representatives—including McGovern, Moulton, Keating, and Lynch—have signed on to support them.

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