Hypocrisy & Partisanship Trump Principle on DISCLOSE ACT Vote: Statement of Policy Director Meredith McGehee

Voting along party lines, the Senate failed to achieve the 60 votes needed to invoke cloture and move to consideration of S. 3369, the DISCLOSE Act. Meredith McGehee, Campaign Legal Center Policy Director issued the following statement:

Tonight Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) convinced Senators on his side of the aisle to put party loyalty over principle, demonstrating an astonishing level of hypocrisy.  This is the kind of election-year partisanship that makes more and more Americans fed up with Washington.

After years of calling for quick, comprehensive disclosure, Senate Republicans closed ranks to kill meaningful election disclosure.  For years, many of these same Senators have sung the praises of disclosure, yet now when they find secret money is working to their advantage, they have shown they are willing to turn on a dime and vote against disclosure.   When did it become “un-American” to reveal to voters who or what is trying to buy influence in Washington?

Regardless of the partisan rhetoric, the actual result of tonight’s vote is to continue to keep Americans in the dark about who is bankrolling our elections.  The Senators opposing cloture have in effect chosen to keep secret the identities of those spending tens of millions of dollars in an effort to buy election results and buy influence in Washington.  You can bet, however, the Senators know the sources of the money funding these barrages of attack ads against their opponents.  But in what amounts to a contemptuous gesture, they don’t think their constituents need or deserve to know.

The public overwhelmingly supports disclosure.  Yet, Republican Senators chose to favor large donors over voters.  This may prove a vote some of them will come to regret as public disgust grows with each passing attack ad.