Two conservatives in Congress have proposed allowing donors to give unlimited amounts of money to federal political candidates a long-sought measure given fresh energy with the imminent Republican control of Congress and the White House.
A measure reintroduced on Wednesday by Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Rep. Mark Meadows of North Carolina would toss out the current $2700 per-election limit on individual donors while requiring donations greater than $200 to be disclosed within a day.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has also long sought to loosen campaign finance rules arguing political spending is a form of speech protected by the U.S. Constitution.
Mr. Cruz a onetime Republican presidential candidate and leading conservative voice in the Senate said Wednesday that overhauling the federal campaign finance system would be a top priority in the new Congress.
In remarks Wednesday Mr. Cruz sought to emphasize that his proposal would curtail the power of super PACs political committees funded by unlimited contributions from often wealthy donors that are barred from coordinating with candidates.
The current system is absurd" said Mr. Cruz. As a candidate who has had super PACs supporting me and super PACs attacking me it makes no sense not to have candidates able to communicate their own messages and instead have this bizarre world of super PACs."
The SuperPAC Elimination Act from Messrs. Cruz and Meadows would keep in place the ban on corporate contributions to candidates.
During the campaign Mr. Trump criticized the amount of money spent in support of his rivals through super PACs though allies of Mr. Trump later set up several independent groups to boost his presidential bid. He has endorsed the principles of the bill Mr. Cruz has introduced including better disclosure.
