Jon Ossoff calls Citizens United 'the most destructive court decision' in modern U.S. history

In 2010, the United States Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling that upended century-old campaign finance restrictions, clearing the path for corporations, unions, and wealthy donors to contribute unlimited millions to political campaigns. The Citizens United decision paved the way for super PACs to raise and spend astronomical sums of money in American elections. While President Donald Trump and other candidates have heavily capitalized on this system, some Democrats continue to view it as a "fundamental rot" within American democracy.

Recently recalling the ruling, Senator Jon Ossoff called it "the most destructive court decision in modern American history." Speaking at a reelection campaign in Savannah, Georgia, Ossoff said, "It's (Citizens United v. FEC) unleashed a flood of secret money, corporate money, billionaire money on both sides. Donald Trump's rise is a symptom of this deeper disease. I suspect many of you are here because you recognise that our task is not just to contain his wickedness, but to cure the rot that gave rise to it," inviting loud cheers and applause from the audience.

The Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission ruling continues to remain a controversial topic of debate as it significantly increases political spending by billionaires and corporations. While the 5-4 majority opinion, authored by Justice Anthony Kennedy, argued that restricting independent political expenditures by corporations was a direct violation of the First Amendment, critics claim the ruling allowed for the electoral system to be rigged in favor of a handful of people.

According to tracking data from Open Secrets, total spending by outside groups, including Super PACs and dark money organizations, surpassed the $5 billion mark during the 2024 cycle. This funding heavily targeted key battleground races on both sides, and the amount is more than three times the $1.4 billion poured into the 2016 federal elections when Trump first ran for president.

Of late, there have been several calls from Democratic members of Congress to overturn the decision. Senator Bernie Sanders vowed to remove Super PACs from America's political landscape. "That is not democracy," he said at a campaign rally. Democratic politician Melanie D'Arrigo also called for the ruling to be overturned in a recent post on X.

"9 of the top 10 mega-donors are supporting Republicans," she wrote. "This is what a system rigged for fascism, backed by propaganda, looks like. How much billionaires spend in an election isn't a conversation that should be had in a Democracy—it's time to overturn Citizens United."