Pappas Announces 43 New Cosponsors of His Bill to End Corrupting Influence of Dark Money in American Elections, Bringing Total to 181

Today Congressman Chris Pappas (NH-01) announced that his DISCLOSE Act has gained 43 additional cosponsors since its introduction, bringing the total number of cosponsors to 181 in the House. Pappas introduced this legislation in March alongside U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (RI), House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (MD-08) and House Administration Committee Ranking Member Joe Morelle (NY-25).

The DISCLOSE Act would end the scourge of dark money in our democracy, shine a bright light of transparency on politics, and make government more accountable to the will of voters.

"Trust in our government is nearing historic lows, and we need to take action to bring greater transparency to our elections and restore Americans’ faith that their voices will be heard in our democracy,” said Congressman Pappas. “The DISCLOSE Act would stop billionaires and corporate special interests from secretly buying our elections by requiring dark money groups to disclose who their donors are and shining a light on payments made to social media influencers to promote or attack candidates. I’m thrilled to see support for this legislation grow, bringing us closer to putting the power of our democracy back in the hands of the people.”

Since the 2010 Citizens United decision, secret spending in U.S. elections by corporations, ultra-rich ideological extremists, and secretive front groups has exploded. These dark-money expenditures that corrupt our politics increased from less than $5 million in 2006 to more than $300 million in the 2012 election cycle, and topped $1.9 billion in 2024, shattering the previous record of $1 billion in 2020. 

The DISCLOSE Act would restore transparency in American elections and restore fairness and accountability in our political system by:

• Requiring super PACs, 501(c)(4) “dark money” groups, corporations, and other organizations spending more than $10,000 in elections and on judicial nominations to promptly disclose donors who contribute more than $10,000;
• Shutting down the use of transfers between organizations to cloak the identity of the original contributor.
• Strengthening prohibitions against foreign actors participating in election spending in the United States, including in state and local referenda;
• Prohibiting the establishment of corporations to conceal election contributions and donations by foreign actors;
• Expanding “stand by your ad” disclosure requirements to online ads and ads that may promote or attack a candidate but stop short of expressly advocating for a vote for or against a candidate; and
• Requiring identification of top funders of outside groups paying for video, text, or audio political ads.

The bill has been adapted to the modern political ecosystem. The DISCLOSE Act of 2026 would:

• Capture payments made to social media influencers to promote or oppose a candidate as political spending that must be disclosed and disclaimed;
• Narrow and specify what constitutes threats and harassment to qualify for an exemption to disclosure, and put commonsense guardrails on the process to grant such exemptions; and
• Allow more flexibility for disclaimers for short political ads instead of limiting it to hyperlinks.

Several prominent good-government organizations support the bill including Campaign Legal Center, Democracy Defenders Action, Public Citizen, Democracy21, End Citizens United, Common Cause, Center for American Progress, and the Brennan Center.

A summary of the DISCLOSE Act of 2026 can be found here. The House bill text can be found here, and the Senate bill text can be found here.

Background: 

Rep. Pappas has been an original cosponsor of the DISCLOSE Act since he came to Congress. He led efforts to pass the DISCLOSE Act in the 118th Congress following the retirement of Rep. David Cicilline.