Republicans just dead a Democrat plan to accord Congress added ability by alteration the Constitution

Senate Republicans ashore calm on Thursday and voted down a Democratic angle to alter the U.S. Constitution in adjustment to let Congress adapt political accent by corporations.

Democrats accept been arguing for months now that two contempo Supreme Court cases accept accustomed companies to inject millions of dollars into the advance system, money they say dampens the adeptness of approved humans to accept a say in elections.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) pushed for a vote on legislation to alter the Constitution, but Republicans defeated it on Thursday. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

But their acknowledgment is one that affronted a lot of Republicans — alteration the Constitution to accord Congress ample new admiral to absolute the money corporations can absorb on politics-related speech. Several GOP senators accept said the proposed alteration is an advance on the First Alteration rights of humans — including those in companies — to allege freely.

“By attached the bulk of money individuals and corporations can absorb on elections, this alteration would acutely absolute their rights beneath the First Amendment,” said Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) during Wednesday’s agitation on the measure.

“This alteration would acquiesce us to adjudge what bulk of money is accent and who can use it,” he added. “This is a perilous bulk of adeptness to abode in the easily of politicians.”

Democrats dedicated the angle as one aimed at ambience “reasonable limits” on campaign-related expenditures. Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.), who sponsored the amendment, said it would acknowledgment the country to a time afore courts equated the adeptness to absorb money on backroom as speech, and accustomed that it would let Congress set banned on the former.

“It does not change in any way the longstanding First Alteration assumption that the government cannot bind accent based on the agreeable of the bulletin or the angle expressed,” he said. “The alteration would do no added than acquiesce the government to adapt spending in acclamation campaigns.”

The Democratic angle is a acknowledgment to two contempo Supreme Court cases, Citizens United vs. the Federal Acclamation Commission, and McCutcheon vs. the FEC. Those cases said the government can’t absolute spending on politics-related communications, and can’t put accumulated banned on alone contributions to political campaigns.

Republicans accept criticized Democrats for the endure several weeks for crumbling time because a awful arguable bill if it was accepted the bill would fail, and said it shows Democrats are out of blow with issues of absolute accent to people, such as jobs or accepting the border. At the aforementioned time, Democrats accept approved to altercate that the affair is analytical to accustomed Americans whose choir get drowned out by accumulated advance money.

The Thursday vote was on whether to absolute agitation on the Democratic proposal, which would accept accustomed a vote. But 60 votes are bare at this stage, and the Senate voted 54-42 in favor of advancing the bill, abrogation Democrats six votes shy of advancing it.

Republicans had a adventitious to annihilate the bill beforehand in the week, but absitively adjoin accomplishing so because they acquainted like they were winning the debate adjoin Democrats.

“As written, the First Alteration does not admittance adjustment of the array the majority wishes to impose,” said Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) beforehand this week. “So they accept absitively to re-write it. This is incredible… and a sad affirmation of the lengths to which this majority is accommodating to go in its adventure to absorb power.”