WASHINGTON – Tom Moore, a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress (CAP), believes he has discovered a way of making the extremely unpopular Citizens United ruling irrelevant.

How? Moore explains “By using their authority to define what corporations are—and what powers they hold—states can end the era of corporate and dark money in U.S. politics.” The essay, “The Corporate Power Reset that Makes Citizens United Irrelevant,” is published in full on the CAP website. He shares, “This report explains how every state can use that authority to remove corporate and dark money from its local, state, and federal politics.”

Moore writes in his CAP paper, “Citizens United held that government may not regulate a corporation’s right to spend money independently in elections. But the court did not say what a corporation is—it could not. That question lies beyond even the Supreme Court’s reach.”

He revealed, “The legal strategy developed by the Center for American Progress—the ‘Corporate Power Reset’—will, state by state, drain corporate and dark money from American politics. It does not overturn Citizens United; it makes it irrelevant.”

“Corporations are pure creatures of state law,” he explained. “And for more than two centuries, the Supreme Court has affirmed that states have virtually unlimited authority to modify and withdraw the powers they grant to their corporations.”

About Citizens United

In 2010, the Supreme Court held in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission that “ … the government may not restrict independent political spending by corporations because it couldn’t possibly be corrupting,” shares Moore.

The consequence on our elections of that absurd notion has been alarming, with undisclosed dark money from outside groups growing from under $2 million in 2008 to approaching $5 billion today.

This has created a hateful political environment, as anonymity protects the donors from accountability for character assassinations and spreading falsehoods.

The Montana Plan

Neutralizing Citizens United is not mere theory. The question will be on the ballot next year in Montana.

Known as The Montana Plan, the group behind the effort, the Transparent Election Initiative, says, “The Montana Plan, a breakthrough legal strategy, will stop corporate and dark money cold. It’s how Montanans will beat Citizens United and take back our politics. Learn about what it is and how it’s headed toward Montana’s 2026 ballot. Montana can do it, and your state can too!”

Moore agrees and is certainly championing the Montana Plan. While any state can indeed use the CAP strategy, states with ballot initiatives – which Montana has – have an advantage over states where legislators would have to pass laws or send a ballot initiative to the people. As Moore points out, it is not in the interest of state legislators to limit the amount of dark money from which they benefit.

Others Take Note

Moore’s discovery has drawn the attention of those who have worked at the highest echelons of government but also people at the grassroots. “They all have had enough of the corrosive effect on our national politics,” says Moore.

Robert Reich, the highly respected former U.S. Labor Secretary for Bill Clinton continues his work as a professor in the area of Public Policy. He believes Moore is on target. He wrote in support of Moore’s discovery, “In American law, corporations are creatures of state laws. For more than two centuries, the power to define their form, limits, and privilege has belonged only to the states.”

Reich is not the only person to take notice.

On December 3,the Rural Urban Bridge Initiative (RUBI) held an online briefing from Moore, titled “Making Citizens United Irrelevant Through a Corporate Power Reset.” In an invitation to the meeting, the group noted, “By reframing the debate around state-granted powers rather than constitutional rights, this strategy opens a novel path to curb corporate money in politics while grounding reform in deeply established corporate law principles.”

Well over 100 people joined in for this monthly meeting of the group to hear Moore reveal what he has learned and talk about his essay, “The Corporate Power Reset That Makes Citizens United Irrelevant – Center for American Progress.

Participants in the call were from multiple states. His presentation was met with several questions; with each answer, a crescendo of enthusiastic responses built. “What can we do?” was a common question. Another asked if unions and progressive PACs would be impacted; Moore told them yes. He offered though, “It doesn’t hurt everybody across the board, it helps everybody. Citizens United is the most corrosive form of politics. It has the ugliest message because nobody is accountable for it. What we are proposing will help Democrats, Republican and the democracy.”

RUBI Executive Director Anthony Flaccavento shares, “Rural and working folks are disenchanted because they know that the system is rigged against them in multiple ways.  One of the most important of those is the obscene level of power rich people and giant corporations have, not because they’ve earned it, but because we’ve built a system that favors them, that gives them all kind of opportunities and breaks that ordinary people – whether small business owners, farmers or workers – just don’t have.  When the Supreme Court ruled, against all logic and principle, that money is speech and corporations are persons, it was just about the straw that broke the camel’s back for everyone still trying to build a fair and just country.  That’s why the “corporate power reset” strategy that Tom Moore has developed is so exciting and incredibly important.  When people learned from Tom during our December RUBI briefing how this approach will remove corporate $ from elections, they were as energized as they were hopeful.  Me too.  We’re thrilled to be working with Tom to help spread the word about this breakthrough approach to bringing us back to a one person, one vote nation.”

The questions were as varied as the people and the states they represent, but Moore’s answers generally followed two lines of reasoning:

1. Wherever a measure designed to neutralize Citizens United is on the ballot, it will pass; and,
2. One state is enough to get it to the U.S. Supreme Court, where Moore is hopeful about a positive outcome.

Indeed, a poll by Issue One, published in late October, was headlined, “New polling illuminates how the Supreme Court got Citizens United wrong and shows bipartisan momentum for money-in-politics reforms, including proposed Montana ballot measure.” Moore noted, “It is overwhelmingly popular with demographics across party lines.”

As the Issue One poll reveals, says Moore, there is political support for being done with Citizens United. “Wherever term limits are on the ballot they pass. There are things like this that just have an appeal to voters. I think it will be one of those.” It is also evident that Montana will not be alone. This week, New York Assemblymember Micah Lasher introduced a bill addressing the frustration with Citizens United.

So, once the Montana Plan or other initiative or law is passed, it is headed to the U.S. Supreme Court believes Moore. “I don’t see how it won’t. It will hit federal court immediately the second it passes anywhere. If a District and Circuit court say that’s okay to stand the Supreme Court will take it.” If the opposite occurs, then an appeal is certain as well, notes Moore.

He explained that corporations are creatures of the State, not the federal government; States define what corporations are; If just one state will pass a law limiting corporate contributions, that will trigger a lawsuit that will almost certainly reach the Supreme Court; And, the Court must rely upon State law by the plaintiffs regarding corporate law, so the First Amendment argument used to justify Citizens United is not applicable in this situation.

Hence, notes Moore, a ruling by the Supreme Court allowing states to prevent corporations from making political donations is possible if not probable. That and the general mood of citizens to do away with dirty, dark money in politics will effectively undermine Citizens United.

Looking Beyond the Beltway

So, Moore keeps researching, teaching and preparing for that day when the case can be made. He is confident he is on solid ground. Winning on legal grounds, while not guaranteed, is the outcome he expects. During the RUBI briefing, an attendee asked if this approach made it a States’ Rights issue. During our interview, we briefly discussed the notion. He answered, “There’s different ways to do state rights. Here, the question is ‘Who’s in charge of chartering corporations?’ It’s always been a state right. When I think about it, if you’re interested in moving on this, you don’t have to wait. You can get it done in your state next year. There is no federal law that could be passed.”

Moore concluded, “There will be bipartisan support and bipartisan opposition, but just about everyone wants to get rid of Citizens United. This idea is very popular across party lines. Citizens United is popular inside the Beltway but not outside the Beltway.”

About Tom Moore

Tom Moore is a senior fellow at American Progress, where he focuses on democracy and government reform. From 2015 to 2023, Moore served as counsel and then chief of staff to Commissioner Ellen L. Weintraub of the Federal Election Commission (FEC), where he advised the commissioner on all aspects of her duties, including policy and litigation matters, enforcement actions, communications, and management of the agency. Notably, he and Commissioner Weintraub developed a legal and procedural strategy, reported on by The New York Times, that allowed the commissioner to shatter a decade-long deadlock on enforcement issues at the FEC.

Readers in Western North Carolina will be interested to know that Moore earned a degree in political science from Davidson College. He earned his law degree from Georgetown University. He also served two terms on the Rockville City Council, and served as president of the board of Common Cause Maryland.

About the Center for American Progress

The Center for American Progress is an independent, nonpartisan policy institute that is dedicated to improving the lives of all Americans through bold, progressive ideas, as well as strong leadership and concerted action. Our aim is not just to change the conversation, but to change the country.

About RUBI

The Rural Urban Bridge Initiative invites all of us to think differently, talk differently and act differently in order to understand the causes of the rural-urban divide and then do something to repair it. We develop political, economic and communications strategies that build bridges and serve the common interests of all working and middle class Americans.

Related Links

• The Corporate Power Reset That Makes Citizens United Irrelevant – Center for American Progress
• How to Get Rid of Citizens United by Robert Reich
• Democrats Can Win Back Rural Voters Argue Progressive Democrats in Letter to the New DNC Chair
• Rural Urban Bridge Initiative
• The recording of CAP’s Oct. 14 event introducing the project: Undoing Citizens United and reining in super pacs
• A short explainer video received 5+ million views on Reddit
• Web version of the October 2025 national poll on this reform and attitudes on dark and corporate money in general, commissioned by Issue One
• The Transparent Election Initiative, which is moving this forward toward Montana’s 2026 ballot 
• Article in The American Prospect by Harold Meyerson, https://prospect.org/2025/10/27/montanans-go-after-citizens-united/

© Michael M. Barrick, 2025