Buckley v. Valeo was a major Supreme Court case that decided that spending money to influence elections is a form of constitutionally protected free speech (i.e., “money is speech”).

First National Bank v. Belloti was a major Supreme Court case that ruled that, as associations of citizens, corporations have a right to free speech (i.e., “corporations are people”)

Citizens United v. FEC was a Supreme Court case that opened the door for unlimited political spending by corporations and unions by ruling that restricting their independent expenditures violated the First Amendment.

Citizens United also gave rise to Super PACs, which can raise and spend unlimited money from wealthy donors and special interests, and increased the influence of dark money, as groups can now funnel anonymous donations through nonprofits.

In SpeechNow.org v. FEC, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled that independent expenditures (spending not coordinated with candidates) cannot be limited under the First Amendment, essentially allowing independent expenditure groups (later super PACs) to raise and spend money on campaign speech without limits.

McCutcheon v. FEC was a Supreme Court case that removed overall limits on how much an individual can contribute to candidates, parties, and PACs.

A 60 Minutes exposé revealed that Members of Congress spend more than half their time, sometimes 6-8 hours a day, calling donors and fundraising, instead of working on legislation.

A 2016 study published in The Journal of Politics examined the relationship between Congressional committee assignments and campaign contributions.

The researchers found that industries decreased contributions to members of Congress who left relevant committees and increased contributions to incoming members. This pattern suggests that industries strategically allocate contributions to maintain access and influence over pertinent legislative areas.

In 2020, more than $14 billion was spent on federal elections, making it the most expensive election cycle in U.S. history.

That’s 72% more than 2018 midterms & a 300-fold increase since 2010.

The numbers for the 2024 election are jaw-dropping and record-breaking with $5.1 billion raised and $3.4 billion spent.

In a 2025 poll, Pew Research found that roughly seven-in-ten Americans say “the role of money in politics” is a very big problem in the country today – the highest share of any of the 24 items asked about on the survey.