It Only Took 15 Years For Citizens United To Kill Campaign Finance Reform

Elon Musk, the richest man in the world with a net worth north of $400 billion, is now also the biggest donor in U.S. politics, having spent more than a quarter of $1 billion to elect Donald Trump president in 2024.

Musk made his biggest investment in America PAC, a super PAC that ran an extensive (but maybe not particularly effective) operation in swing states to get low-propensity Republican voters out to the polls. What made Musk’s efforts in 2024 different from those of past megadonors is that the super PAC operations he funded were directly coordinated with the Trump campaign.

Super PACs and other outside groups allowed to raise unlimited contributions are ostensibly meant to be independent from the political parties and candidates they support — at least, that was the rationale given by the Supreme Court in its 2010 decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which enabled corporations and the wealthy to make such contributions.

Since then, the courts, the…