The President nominated Tom Wheeler to replace Julius Genachowski as the next FCC Chair yesterday.

“501(c)(4s) are social welfare organizations that increasingly have been misused to spend money for political purposes,” Aaron Scherb, director of legislative affairs at Common Cause, told The Daily Beast. “Under the IRS tax code, they don't have to disclose their donors. And so that's why they've become a popular vehicle for people who are trying to use dark money to influence political outcomes.”

Watchdog groups have argued for years that the decision of three Republican commissioners to deadlock votes on enforcement...

The legal seesaw over the broader issue reveals that both parties understand what’s at stake, said Jay Heck, the executive director of Common Cause Wisconsin, the state’s branch of the national nonpartisan government watchdog group.

“It could make a difference around the margins,” said Heck, whose group filed an amicus brief in support of overturning the 2022 ruling. “But, you know, the small margins are important in Wisconsin.”

“My worry is” that the bill “will cause a higher success rate for the challenges,” said Anne Gray Herring, a policy analyst for nonprofit watchdog group Common Cause Georgia.

Dede Feldman, a former state lawmaker and spokesperson for Common Cause New Mexico, said voters deserve to know who signs candidates’ paychecks and where potential conflicts of interest lie. That’s also true for district attorney candidates, she said.

“It's not a good look when candidates do not disclose their finances,” she said.

Feldman said more candidates need to file disclosures, but that won’t go nearly far enough. They also need to take them more seriously.

“The chief duty of...

“If the court orders additional proceedings in the district court, holding trial before the election will become virtually impossible,” said a brief supporting Mr. Smith from Common Cause, a watchdog group.

Aaron Scherb, senior director of legislative affairs at good government watchdog Common Cause, agreed with Fischer’s assessment that the payments may violate reporting and corporate contribution laws.

“By a legal sleight of hand, it appears that Trump world is trying to hide the true recipients of these donations,” Scherb told The Daily Beast. He noted that corporations aren’t allowed to donate directly to these committees, and that corporations can’t reimburse contributors. The payments, Scherb said, must be...

“There’s extreme public interest on what happened on that trip,” Common Cause Rhode Island Executive Director John M. Marion said, noting that one of the former state officials, David Patten, was recently fined $5,000 by the state Ethics Commission for accepting a free lunch at an upscale Sicilian restaurant during that trip. ”So great example of sort of how public records get us information that holds government officials accountable.”