John,

According to a recently released report from Americans for Tax Fairness, just 100 billionaire families spent a staggering $2.6 billion to influence the 2024 presidential and congressional elections.^[1] That’s more than one in every six dollars spent in all federal races last year. Their donations were funneled through Super PACs that let them skirt contribution limits and flood our political system with cash. (They spent an unknown amount more through “dark money” groups.)

70% of the donations went to right-wing candidates and causes, while just 23% went to progressive candidates.

One of the largest contributions came from one person: Elon Musk. Musk spent a stunning $278 million to elect Donald Trump—an amount that was four times what he paid in federal income taxes from 2013 to 2018.^[2]

And what did the richest man in the world get in return for his investment? Unprecedented access and the ability to take a chainsaw to critical federal agencies by firing tens of thousands of federal workers and having his hand-picked minions take control and have access to sensitive data of millions of Americans and taxpayers—including Social Security and IRS data.

Our elections and government are not for sale. Add your name to tell Congress to get billionaire money out of politics.

This billionaire takeover of our politics was supercharged by the Supreme Court’s disastrous Citizens United decision, which opened the floodgates to big money in politics. The result? A political system increasingly tilted in favor of the ultra-rich, where regular Americans are left without a voice.

Because of federal contribution limits, most of the donations billionaires gave to candidates and political parties were relatively small. Instead, the bulk of their money went to Super PACs (and, likely, dark money groups) that can accept unlimited amounts of money. It’s estimated that billionaire families donated 80%—or $2.14 billion—to Super PACs in the 2024 cycle. That’s not just putting a thumb on our election scales—billionaires are putting an anvil on it.

The influence of billionaire spending on our elections is evident in the policies being promoted and carried out by the new Trump administration. Extending and expanding the 2017 tax cuts that disproportionately benefit the wealthy, delaying prescription drug price negotiations so big Pharma wins and patients lose, gutting the Environmental Protection Agency to allow billionaire polluters free reign, dismantling the IRS so they stop going after wealthy tax cheats, and the list goes on and on.

The only way to save our democracy is to get billionaire money out of our politics.

Add your name to demand Congress stand up for the American public and get billionaire money out of our elections and politics.

Thank you for all you do,

Deborah Weinstein
Executive Director, CHN Action

[1]Billionaires Buying Elections: They’ve Come to Collect
[2]America’s Highest Earners And Their Taxes Revealed