Removing Corporate Money from Politics

Around one hundred years ago President Theodore Roosevelt took the first step to ban corporations from making contributions in relation to federal elections. Over the next century, Congress would pass many laws in furtherance of this goal. As the Congress would pass these laws, the Court would be pressed to review the constitutionality of these bans. What developed was a constant back-and-forth between these two branches, one passing laws and the other striking down.

If the fear of corporate involvement leading to corruption in the government is well-grounded, because the Court struck down the ban on corporate expenditures the ball is back in the court of the Congress to make the next move. In Citizens United v. FEC, the Court held unconstitutional laws that banned corporations from making independent expenditures. This Essay explores a possible next move the Congress could take in removing corporate money from federal elections.