Pappas, Whitehouse Reintroduce Updated DISCLOSE Act to End Corrupting Influence of Dark Money in American Elections

Congressman Chris Pappas (NH-01), 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) today led 182 colleagues in both houses of Congress in reintroducing the DISCLOSE Act, legislation to 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. The bill is sponsored by all 47 senators who caucus with Democrats, and 139 Democrats in the House. 

"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. It is critical that we pass this legislation to put the power of our democracy back in the hands of the people.”

 “The Supreme Court’s disastrous Citizens United decision opened the floodgates to billions in dark money slime, fouling American politics ever since. The Court’s decision, which was based on egregiously false facts, corrupted our political process by allowing billionaires and the wealthiest corporations to spend unlimited money in elections while hiding from public view,” said Senator Whitehouse. “We need to pass the DISCLOSE Act to make government respond to ordinary Americans, not creepy billionaires. It’s time we shut the dark money floodgates.”

“The Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling flooded our elections with dark money, allowing billionaires to spend unlimited sums without accountability, oversight or disclosure,” said Rep. Raskin. “The DISCLOSE Act would unmask the anonymous billionaire donors dominating our elections and expose foreign influence, at least putting more power and information back into the hands of the American people.  I’m grateful to my colleagues Senator Whitehouse and Rep. Pappas for leading this important effort alongside me.”

“I’m grateful to Congressman Pappas for leading this important effort to root out dark money and corruption in our elections,” said Ranking Member Joe Morelle. “The American people deserve to know who is trying to influence their vote, and we cannot allow wealthy hidden interests to drown out their voices.”

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:

1. Capture payments made to social media influencers to promote or oppose a candidate as political spending that must be disclosed and disclaimed;
2. 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
3. Allow more flexibility for disclaimers for short political ads instead of limiting it to hyperlinks.

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

“Americans deserve to know who is spending money to influence their elections. Every cycle, billions of dollars move through our political system with little to no transparency, allowing billionaires and powerful special interests to influence and shape election outcomes while working families are left in the dark about who’s behind the campaigns,” said End Citizens United Action Fund President Tiffany Muller. “The DISCLOSE Act is a commonsense step to bring sunlight back into our elections and restore accountability. We thank Senator Whitehouse and Representatives Pappas and Raskin for their continued leadership to increase transparency and integrity in our elections, and we look forward to working alongside them to build the momentum necessary to get this bill passed.”

“Our campaign finance system is failing voters, in no small part due to the torrents of anonymous spending aimed at influencing their decisions during election season,” said Trevor Potter, President of Campaign Legal Center and former Republican Chairman of the Federal Election Commission. “As the amount of secret spending increases, the need for Congress to pass the DISCLOSE Act becomes ever more urgent. Dark money denies voters critically important information about the sources of election spending, while also leaving our elections vulnerable to corruption and foreign influence. It is beyond time for Congress to come together on a bipartisan basis and pass this commonsense legislation.”

“All Americans deserve to know who is trying to influence their voices and their votes. However, when hundreds of millions of dollars in secret political money are spent on elections, Americans are too often left in the dark,” said Amb. Norman Eisen (ret.), co-founder and board chair of Democracy Defenders Action. “We commend the leadership of Senator Whitehouse and Representatives Pappas and Raskin for introducing the DISCLOSE Act, which will close loopholes that have been exploited by foreign governments and dark money groups. Democracy Defenders Action urges Congress to immediately pass this important legislation to shine a light on secret, special interest and foreign money so all Americans can get the transparency they deserve.”

“We applaud Senator Sheldon Whitehouse for the powerful national leadership he has provided to protect the American people from the flow of corrupting secret, or dark, money in the nation’s capital. Unlimited dark money contributions, spent to influence elections and officeholders, are among the most dangerous money in American politics. The absence of disclosure of this money means there is no way to hold accountable influence-buying billionaires and millionaires and influence-selling officeholders. The DISCLOSE act is the key to lifting this shroud of secrecy,” said Fred Wertheimer, President of Democracy 21.

“Full disclosure of money in politics is a principle that has overwhelming support among the American public. DISCLOSE 2026 would fulfill the public's demand for this transparency. Yet a significant portion of Congress continues to deny the public an open record of who is paying for what in American elections. This is particularly galling given the increasing wave of dark money flooding into our elections since the disastrous Citizens United decision. Public Citizen applauds all those who back the relentless efforts by Sen. Whitehouse and Reps. Pappas and Raskin and others to provide the transparency of money in politics so demanded by the American public,” said Craig Holman of Public Citizen.

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. 

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (NY) first introduced the DISCLOSE Act in the wake of Citizens United in 2010, and Sen. Whitehouse has led the introduction of the legislation in every subsequent Congress. Sen. Whitehouse led efforts in the Senate to pass the DISCLOSE Act in September 2022, January 2022 and July 2012; every member of the Republican Caucus in attendance voted to protect dark money, and all members of the Democratic Caucus in attendance voted to be rid of it.