Political nonprofits must now name many of their donors under federal court ruling after Supreme Court declines to intervene

Advocacy groups pouring money into independent campaigns to impact the Fall 2018 midterm races must disclose many of their political donors beginning the week of Sept 17 after the Supreme Court declined to intervene in a long-running case. The high court did not grant an emergency request to stay a ruling by a federal judge in Washington who had thrown out a decades-old Federal Election Commission regulation allowing nonprofit groups to keep their donors secret unless they had earmarked their money for certain purposes.

With less than 50 days before this fall’s congressional elections, the ruling has far-reaching consequences that could curtail the ability of major political players to raise money and force the disclosure of some of the country’s wealthiest donors. Federal Election Commission Chairwoman Caroline Hunter said that the names of certain contributors who give money to nonprofit groups to use in political campaigns beginning Sept 19 will have to be publicly reported. Chairman Hunter and other conservatives warned that the decision could have a chilling effect just as the fall midterms are heating up. Advocates for stricter regulation of money in politics celebrated the move. “This is a great day for transparency and democracy,” Noah Bookbinder, executive director of Citizens for Responsiblility and Ethics in Washington, which brought the case, said in a statement,” adding: “We’re about to know a lot more about who is funding our elections.”