Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Can Adam Schiff Really Overturn Citizens United With A Constitutional Amendment?

Representative Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) has introduced a constitutional amendment to effectively undo the Supreme Court verdict in the Citizens United case, CNN reported.

In the 2010 Citizens United ruling, the Supreme Court voted 5-4 to get rid of limits on election spending on communications, such as ads and flyers, by corporations, unions and other groups. Since the ruling, outside spending in elections has increased dramatically, from $131 million in the 2008 presidential election to $1.4 billion in 2016, according to data collected by the Center for Responsive Politics.

“Our democracy is not for sale. We must stop the flood of dark money from drowning out the voices of everyday citizens,” Schiff said in a statement.

It’s not clear how much Schiff is really interested in getting this amendment passed. Schiff is in the middle of the pitched battle between the House of Representatives and the White House to get the unredacted report from Special Counsel Robert Mueller, and recently subpoenaed Attorney General Bill Barr for the report.

But about three-fourths of Americans would like to see Citizens United abolished by a constitutional, according to a study from The Center for Public Integrity, including two-thirds of Republicans.

The constitution was last amended in 1992, to only allow raises in Representatives’ salaries to take place at the outset of the following term after which they were increased.

Ari Feldman is a staff writer at the Forward. Contact him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @aefeldman

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.