[25] The DISCLOSE Act is supported by congressional Democrats,[26] who describe it as a campaign finance reform measure necessary to combat dark money[27] in response to the Citizen United decision.
[28] The chief sponsor of the legislation, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, said that the DISCLOSE Act was necessary to counter big-money campaign expenditures that threaten "to drown out the voice of middle-class families in our democracy.
"[28] while Senator Schumer described the legislation as a way to "limit fallout" from the Citizens United decision to constrain the influence of "unlimited special-interest spending on elections.
"[29] The legislation was supported by President Barack Obama, who said that the bill as "a critical piece of legislation to control the flood of special interest money into our elections" and praised its provisions that "would establish the strongest-ever disclosure requirements for election-related spending by special interests, including Wall Street and big oil companies, and...would restrict spending by foreign-controlled corporations" to "give the American public the right to see exactly who is spending money in an attempt to influence campaigns for public office.
[31] Supporters of the bill argue that the proposed disclosure requirements are constitutional under applicable Supreme Court precedent, such as Doe v.
[33] The AFL–CIO supported legislative action to counter the Citizens United decision and what it termed "the excessive and disproportionate influence by business.
[36][28] Republicans such as then-Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell contend that the legislation's transparency requirements would violate constitutional free speech rights and are an attempt by Democrats to impose a chilling effect on political giving.
[36] The legislation was also opposed by right-wing advocacy organizations, including the Institute for Free Speech, formerly the Center for Competitive Politics, The Heritage Foundation, Americans for Tax Reform, American Conservative Union, CatholicVote.org, and Citizens Against Government Waste,[31] the United States Chamber of Commerce[37] and the National Federation of Independent Business.