July 18, 2025

In the News

OpenSecrets: Federal judge blocks voter-approved Maine law capping super PAC contributions

By Dave Levinthal

.....On Tuesday, a federal district judge blocked a Maine law recently passed by ballot initiative that would strictly limit the amount of money anyone could contribute to a super PAC — a political committee that by definition may raise and spend unlimited amounts of money...

[The] ruling is clear: Maine’s law is “unconstitutional on its face,” arguing that “it risks chilling contributors’ rights to speak and associate” in violation of the First Amendment.

But the legal fight is hardly over.

Proponents of the Maine super PAC law are vowing to appeal to the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals and perhaps beyond, to the Supreme Court. Their goal: to kill super PACs...

But Chip Miller of the Institute for Free Speech, who represented one of the plaintiffs suing Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices Chairman William Schneider over the new super PAC law, predicted the case against unlimited super PAC donations will fail.

“One of the most core components of our Constitution is the free speech clause,” Miller said. “Judges realize that people must be able to speak on election issues.”

The Courts

Reuters: Appeals court dismisses NRA free speech lawsuit against New York regulator

By Jonathan Stempel

.....A federal appeals court on Thursday ordered the dismissal of the National Rifle Association's lawsuit accusing a New York state official of violating its free speech rights by coercing banks and insurers to avoid doing business with it.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said Maria Vullo, a former superintendent of New York's Department of Financial Services, was immune from the NRA's claims under the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment because the law addressing her conduct was unclear at the time.

Bloomberg Law: Anti-Abortion Clinic Opposes False Ad Law Claims in California

By Mary Anne Pazanowski

.....An anti-abortion health clinic said it’s likely to win its free-speech claim against California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) because his targeted enforcement of false advertising laws against similar medical centers is content- and viewpoint-based.

Culture of Life Family Services, which supports and promotes abortion pill “reversal,” asked the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to overturn a lower court order denying the clinic a preliminary injunction to prevent Bonta from civilly enforcing the laws against it before trial.

Bonta has threatened parties that engage in speech advocating the procedure but allows speech criticizing it, thereby demonstrating his ...

New York Times: Fired D.E.I. Administrator Sues the University of Michigan

By Vimal Patel

.....A Black administrator who was fired by the University of Michigan has sued the school, accusing it of racial and gender discrimination in its investigation of whether she made antisemitic comments.

Rachel Dawson, the former director of the university’s office of academic multicultural initiatives, denied in her lawsuit that she had made antisemitic remarks last year.

Congress

Politico (Influence): Dems move to rein in presidential library fundraising

By Caitlin Oprysko

.....More than two dozen congressional Democrats have signed on to a new bill aimed at injecting transparency into funding for presidential libraries — a move that comes as President Donald Trump rakes in tens of millions of dollars in pledges from corporations whose business Trump has immense say over.

Unlike with fundraising for political campaigns, there are virtually no restrictions on when and how presidents can raise money for their libraries. And there are no disclosure requirements apart from the rules that govern all tax-exempt nonprofits. That makes the endeavor rife with ethics concerns, according to Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Reps. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) and Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.), the co-authors of the Presidential Library Anti-Corruption Act.

“Allowing wealthy donors that may seek policy benefits from a sitting President to bankroll the President’s legacy raises serious ethical concerns,” the lawmakers wrote in a one-pager on their bill. “Presidential Libraries should be monuments to history, not backdoor vehicles for influence.”

The bill would ban presidents from raising money for their future library (except from 501(c)3 groups) while in office, which the lawmakers note was the standard adopted by the Obama Foundation. There would be an additional two-year cooling off period for donations from foreign nationals, lobbyists, contractors and pardon seekers, and a ban on straw donations.

It would require quarterly disclosures of contributions of more than $200 for five years after a president leaves office and bar the use of library donations on personal expenses.

Reason: The Senate Was Right To Defund NPR and PBS

By Robby Soave

.....The Senate has voted to cancel $1.1 billion in public funding for NPR and PBS, a move described as "an unusual surrender of congressional spending power" by The New York Times, though the only thing particularly unusual here is the federal government deciding not to spend money…

But defunding NPR does not constitute censorship of NPR. On the contrary, forcing taxpayers to subsidize it represents a kind of compelled speech. NPR should be free to make its own editorial choices—even ones that are pathologically unfriendly to Trump—and Americans should be free to choose whether they want to pay for it.

Trump Administration

Wall Street Journal: White House Prepares Executive Order Targeting ‘Woke AI’

By Amrith Ramkumar and Annie Linskey

.....White House officials are preparing an executive order targeting tech companies with what they see as “woke” artificial-intelligence models, their latest effort to go after diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, people familiar with the matter said.

The order would dictate that AI companies getting federal contracts be politically neutral and unbiased in their AI models, an effort to combat what administration officials see as liberal bias in some models, the people said.

Politico: Trump will sue the WSJ, directs Bondi to unseal Epstein material

By Irie Sentner

.....President Donald Trump said Thursday he would sue the Wall Street Journal and its owner over a new bombshell report about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to begin the process of unsealing grand jury testimony in the disgraced financier’s criminal case.

The States

Washington Post: A Georgia Republican governor candidate questions legality of rival's $10M campaign loan

By Jeff Amy, AP

.....A Republican candidate for Georgia governor asked a state ethics body Thursday to determine whether his GOP rival illegally lent $10 million to a campaign committee to evade restrictions under state campaign finance law.

Attorney General Chris Carr’s campaign lawyer asked the Georgia Ethics Commission for a legal opinion saying Lt. Gov. Burt Jones was prohibited from making the loan to his leadership committee, a special fundraising vehicle that allows the governor, lieutenant governor and legislative leaders to raise unlimited funds.

The Carolina Journal: Donor privacy: A constitutional right under siege

By Chris West

.....North Carolina’s latest legislative battle over donor privacy is not just a local political skirmish; it is part of a decades-long constitutional struggle that goes to the heart of American democracy.

When Gov. Josh Stein vetoed SB 416 earlier this year, he was not just rejecting a piece of legislation. He was continuing a troubling pattern that threatens the very foundations of free speech and association that have protected Americans since the civil rights era.

Reason: Immigrant Rights Group Says Its Billboards Opposing Alligator Alcatraz Were Taken Down Under Political Pressure

By C.J. Ciaramella 

.....Politics moves fast in Florida. Take the case of two new digital billboards opposing the state's Alligator Alcatraz detention camp. The billboards were purchased by the Florida Immigrant Coalition (FLIC), a statewide coalition of immigrant rights groups.

FLIC's ads were mysteriously taken down last week, less than 24 hours after going up, allegedly because of pressure from a state official. They were restored a day later.

MLive: Jocelyn Benson’s campaign finance violation prompts Michigan GOP legislative fix

By Michael Kransz

.....House Republicans say Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson avoided consequences for violating Michigan’s campaign finance law earlier this year due to a loophole.

Now, they’re looking to close that gap in current law.

A bill sponsored by state Rep. Angela Rigas, R-Caledonia, would grant the state attorney general the authority to punish the secretary of state in the event of a violation of the Michigan Campaign Finance Act (MCFA).