Hawley sparks McConnell battle over push to gut Citizens United ruling

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) is drawing the ire of top Senate Republicans after he proposed legislation that would end unlimited corporate donations to PACs, a key item in the Citizens United decision that has helped bankroll top GOP groups for more than a decade.

The bill caught the attention of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who criticized Hawley during the Senate GOP lunch Tuesday, multiple senators told The Hill, and warned Republicans that they shouldn’t join Hawley’s push. One senator added that the bill landed with a thud among the Senate GOP conference.