Rep. Summer Lee Convenes Hundreds For Roundtable on Money in Politics at Carnegie Mellon University
PITTSBURGH, PA—AUGUST 28, 2025 — Last night, Congresswoman Summer L. Lee (PA-12) convened a public roundtable discussion, The Many Over the Money: Roundtable on Money in Politics, at Carnegie Mellon University’s McConomy Auditorium to shine a spotlight on the growing movement to end the corrupting influence of big money in U.S. politics. The event, hosted in collaboration with Free Speech For People, drew nearly 400 attendees, including students, community leaders, and members of the public, with additional viewers joining via livestream.
The discussion featured Congresswoman Lee alongside Courtney Hostetler, Legal Director at Free Speech For People, and was emceed by Alexandra Flores-Quilty, Campaign Director at Free Speech For People. Together, the panel examined solutions to curb corporate political spending, abolish super PACs, and advance a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United v. FEC.
“Our democracy should answer to the people, not the powerful,” said Rep. Lee. “For far too long, billionaires and corporate interests have hijacked our political system by pouring unlimited amounts of money into elections to protect their power and profits. Money in politics affects everything, from housing and healthcare to climate and workers’ rights. We cannot build a government that truly serves working people, including Black, brown, and marginalized communities, while the ultra-wealthy get to write the rules. Buying elections should never be accepted as the new norm in our democracy. The future of our communities depends on breaking the stranglehold of big money so that every voice, not just the wealthiest few, shapes the direction of this country.”
“American elections are flooded by big money from billionaires and special interests that drown out the voices of everyday voters. It is time for reform. We applaud Congresswoman Lee for championing critical legislation to abolish super PACs and for supporting a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United. These reforms will help restore integrity to our elections,” said Alexandra Flores-Quilty, Campaign Director of Free Speech For People. “We deserve elections determined by the people, not by big money and multinational corporations.”
“Our democracy is being eroded by billionaires, multinational corporations, and special interest groups that use money to control our elections and overwhelm the voices of the people. It doesn’t have to be this way—and through most of our country’s history, it wasn’t. We applaud Congresswoman Lee for championing workable solutions to restore a democratic system that prioritizes speech and people, not money and corporations,” said Courtney Hostetler, Legal Director of Free Speech For People.
The event underscored Lee’s legislative efforts to confront concentrated wealth and corporate influence, including the Abolish Super PACs Act, which would close loopholes enabling billionaires and dark money groups to drown out the voices of voters.
Attendees engaged in a moderated Q&A session, where community members and students posed questions on the future of campaign finance reform and the role of grassroots organizing in reshaping political power.
The program opened with welcoming remarks by Carnegie Mellon University Dean of Public Policy, Kirstin Martin, and featured a short film by Larry Lessig and More Perfect Union tracing the history of money’s influence on American democracy.
The event was co-produced with Free Speech For People, whose legal and advocacy work centers on advancing reforms to end corporate rule and strengthen democratic institutions.
Congresswoman Summer Lee serves on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Accountability and the Committee on Education and Workforce. Since taking office in January 2023, she has delivered historic levels of federal investment totaling over $2.4 Billion brought back to Western PA, including over $580 million for infrastructure, over $110 million for affordable transit, over $500 million to keep clean energy manufacturing at home in Pennsylvania, and over $55 million on clean energy efforts in and around schools to help keep our kids and communities safe. These investments will help improve Western Pennsylvania’s infrastructure and transit, ensure cleaner air and drinking water, lower housing costs, fund research institutions, fuel clean manufacturing, fund STEM innovation and entrepreneurship, boost workforce development, and create thousands of good paying union jobs. Lee and her team have also delivered casework and constituent services to over 3,000 constituents with issues ranging from helping our seniors and disabled community access Medicare and social security to helping folks secure housing and helping families with immigration support and passports.