Congressional Republicans are moving ahead with a “reconciliation” bill, a legislative package that will circumvent Democrats’ obstruction and fund President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement agenda.
Naturally, lawmakers are trying to jam their own pet priorities and proposals into the bill. And one of those proposals, from Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) — one of the Senate’s most anti-Trump establishment Republicans — would make it easier for corporations to violate ordinary Americans’ civil liberties.
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For decades, corporations infected with woke idealism have targeted conservatives and infringed on their freedom of speech, religion, and association. Tech companies relentlessly censored dissenting voices during the pandemic. Employees have been fired for posting Bible verses on their social media. One was even terminated for refusing to use invented pronouns.
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These are not the kind of wrongs that correct themselves naturally; they’re often only rectified in the courtroom.
But getting to court isn’t cheap. Lawsuits can cost millions of dollars. Large corporations can afford to spend that money without hesitation. But everyday Americans don’t have the cash reserves of a Fortune 500 legal department.
Corporations know this — and often use it to their advantage. They drag cases out for years, running up legal costs until the other side is forced to settle or give up entirely.
It’s precisely this imbalance that makes Tillis’s proposal so dangerous. The provision would target third-party litigation funding — an essential mechanism that has become a lifeline for Americans unwilling to be bullied by corporate power.
How it works is simple: outside funders agree to back legitimate claims in exchange for a portion of any winning proceeds. It effectively levels the playing field so justice prevails on the merits of the case alone — even against the deepest of corporate coffers.
After all, David didn’t beat Goliath with his bare hands — he never could. He had a slingshot and excellent aim. Third-party funding functions as that sling and stone, enabling individuals to protect their rights in court.
Tillis, long an ally of big business and insurance lobbies, wants to disarm individuals by imposing a steep tax designed to dry up that third-party funding and leave the average conservative wholly unprotected.
It’s baffling that Republicans, not Democrats, are trying so hard to axe this lifeline when time and time again it has allowed conservatives to take on powerful institutions and win.
Take actress Gina Carano, for example, who was fired by Disney after expressing protected political speech. With outside funding, she managed to bring a successful case against one of the largest — and wokest — entertainment empires in the world. Hulk Hogan, too, relied on outside funding to pursue his privacy case against progressive blog site Gawker after it published explicit footage without his consent.
But it’s ordinary Americans who stand to lose the most — and not just when they take on corporations. When Jack Phillips, a Christian baker, declined to make a custom wedding cake for a gay couple, he was dragged through more than six years of litigation by Colorado officials — losing more than 40% of his income in the process. His case ultimately reached the Supreme Court, where the justices rebuked the state government for attempting to force Phillips to violate his faith.
Phillips was only able to mount his case with help from the Alliance Defending Freedom, a nonprofit legal group that routinely provides lawyers and resources free of charge — an arrangement that is fundamentally no different from third-party funding.
A similar dynamic played out when high school football coach Joe Kennedy was fired for holding quiet, voluntary prayers after games. Only with the help of the First Liberty Institute was he able to enforce his — and every American’s — constitutional right to free exercise of religion.
Americans like Phillips and Kennedy have never been expected to navigate the legal system alone. That’s why courts appoint counsel for those who can’t afford it, why attorneys take on pro bono cases, and why organizations step in to defend individuals facing unjust lawsuits or legal persecution.
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Third-party litigation funding is simply another expression of that principle — it shouldn’t matter how someone who has been wronged is able to stand up in court, only that they can.
If the GOP is to be the party of civil liberties, it ought to reject any attack on third-party funding. In many cases, it’s the only tool that allows many Americans to protect their most fundamental rights.
Regina Thomson is president of the Colorado Issues Coalition, a nonprofit organization that supports reform in state government, protects civil liberties, and addresses timely and critical issues for Colorado voters.
