Getting Big Money Out of Politics & Making Washington Work For The People

There are two things I hear, time and again, from voters across Massachusetts, whether they’re Democrats, Republicans, or somewhere in between: Congress is broken, and we’ve got to find a way to get all this big money out of our political system.

I couldn’t agree more. The first three words to our Constitution are “We, The People.”

Not “We, the special interests.”

Not “We, the Corporations.”

The founders intended the inalienable rights of individuals to come first in our new country.

Overturning Citizens United

Sadly, today that isn’t the case. Two disastrous Supreme Court decisions — Citizens United v. FEC and McCutcheon v. FEC — have opened up the floodgates and allowed wealthy insiders and corporate special interests to drown out the voice of the American people through nearly unlimited campaign donations.

That’s why I’ve been working with colleagues from across the country to overturn these disastrous court decisions and return power back to the people of this country — where it belongs.

Together, we’ve been fighting to pass a bipartisan Constitutional Amendment called the Democracy for All Amendment, which affirms the right of states and the federal government to pass laws that regulate spending in elections, reversing the concentration of political influence held by the wealthiest Americans and large corporations capable of spending millions of dollars in our elections. You can read more about our bill here.

Recognizing the high bar our Constitution sets for passing an amendment, I’ve also worked to pass groundbreaking legislation that helps restore the balance of power in our democracy without changing our Constitution.

Passing the For The People Act

H.R. 1 — the For The People Act — which I was proud to cosponsor and vote yes on, would help take big money out of our system, limit corruption in our government, protect voting rights, and restore some integrity back into our system. It passed the house on March 18, 2019 by a vote of 234 -193.