Democratic lawmakers take aim at foreign money in elections

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) introduced a bill Thursday that would bar U.S. companies “appreciably” owned by foreign entities from donating or spending money in American elections.

While foreign nationals are not legally allowed to spend in federal, state or local elections, companies registered in the U.S. that are partially owned by foreign entities or investors, including major multinational corporations, and their corporate treasuries are not subject to such restrictions.

Raskin said that foreign money in elections has the effect of “diluting the voices of citizens and undermining American democracy.”

“Our legislation closes a glaring loophole opened up by the Supreme Court’s disastrous Citizens United decision which allows U.S. companies primarily owned by foreign entities to funnel money into our elections,” said Raskin, who has introduced versions of the Get Foreign Money Out of U.S. Elections Act in each of the last four Congresses.

The legislation lays out foreign ownership thresholds and would require companies to file a certification with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) within seven days of making political contributions or expenditures to certify they are in compliance with the thresholds.

In 2020, the Seattle City Council banned corporations from spending in city elections if foreign entities own at least 5 percent of their stock, boxing out major companies including the Seattle-based Amazon.

“Foreign money can flow into American elections through the same dark money channels that allow unlimited corporate spending, and those dark money openings are significant vulnerabilities for our democracy,” Whitehouse said. 

“Our bill will put in place commonsense safeguards to prevent hostile foreign interests from being able to distort American elections with hidden dark money.”

Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N,Y.) all signed on as original co-sponsors of the Senate version of the bill, according to a press release issued by Whitehouse's office. The House version of the bill garnered two dozen co-sponsors, according to Raskin's office.

More than a dozen good governance and campaign finance reform groups including the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), Common Cause and Public Citizen have also endorsed the bill.

Aaron Scherb, senior director of legislative affairs at Common Cause, said the bill “would help ensure that hostile foreign actors cannot influence our elections by spending general treasury funds to drown out the voices of American voters.”

“Americans deserve to know who is trying to influence our voices and our votes, and foreign-influenced corporations should have zero role in determining American elections,” Scherb said.