This is one of those situations where whoever wins the fight, you’re not entirely satisfied or entirely disappointed. In a Republican Senate lunch Tuesday, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell very pointedly directed the caucus to not sign on to a new bill by Virginia Missouri Senator Josh Hawley aimed at curbing corporate influence in elections, CNN reports, including hinting that McConnell’s PAC would cut off funding for Senators who jumped ship.
Hawley’s bill, called Ending Corporate Influence on Elections Act, aims at ending the unlimited spending corporations and other groups can do to influence elections and support candidates. “I think that’s wrong,” Hawley told CNN. “I think it’s wrong as an original matter. I think it’s warping our politics, and I see no reason for conservatives to defend it. It’s wrong as a matter of the original meaning of the Constitution. It is bad for our elections. It’s bad for our voters. And I just think on principle, we ought to be concerned.”
McConnell called out by name a list of Senators his PAC, one of the wealthiest in the Senate, helped support in their races, including Mike Braun of Indiana, Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Joni Ernst of Iowa, Roger Marshall of Kansas, Susan Collins of Maine, Steve Daines of Montana, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Katie Britt of Alabama, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Eric Schmitt of Missouri, Ted Budd of North Carolina, JD Vance of Ohio and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin. Oh, and Josh Hawley of Missouri.