Ted Cruz addresses the delegates during the third day session of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Wednesday, July 20, 2016. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) Published Credit: Carolyn Kaster/Associated Press

Ted Cruz addresses the delegates during the third day session of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Wednesday, July 20, 2016. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) Published Credit: Carolyn Kaster/Associated Press Photo: Carolyn Kaster/Associated Press

Two conservatives in Congress have proposed allowing donors to give unlimited amounts of money to federal political candidates, a long-sought measure given fresh energy with the imminent Republican control of Congress and the White House.

A measure reintroduced on Wednesday by Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Rep. Mark Meadows of North Carolina would toss out the current $2,700 per-election limit on individual donors while requiring donations greater than $200 to be disclosed within a day.

There is broad dissatisfaction in both parties about the current system of financing political campaigns, but Democrats and Republicans have been at odds about how to fix it. Democrats have long sought to rein in the amount of money in the system and improve the nation's public financing system. Some have also called for a constitutional amendment to curb corporate and political spending in politics.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has also long sought to loosen campaign finance rules, arguing political spending is a form of speech protected by the U.S. Constitution.

Though Republicans will be in control of government beginning Jan. 20, a major overhaul would likely require some Democratic support to overcome a filibuster.

Mr. Cruz, a onetime Republican presidential candidate and leading conservative voice in the Senate, said Wednesday that overhauling the federal campaign finance system would be a top priority in the new Congress.

In remarks Wednesday, Mr. Cruz sought to emphasize that his proposal would curtail the power of super PACs, political committees funded by unlimited contributions from often wealthy donors that are barred from coordinating with candidates.

"The current system is absurd," said Mr. Cruz. "As a candidate who has had super PACs supporting me and super PACs attacking me, it makes no sense not to have candidates able to communicate their own messages and instead have this bizarre world of super PACs."

The SuperPAC Elimination Act from Messrs. Cruz and Meadows would keep in place the ban on corporate contributions to candidates.

During the campaign, Mr. Trump criticized the amount of money spent in support of his rivals through super PACs, though allies of Mr. Trump later set up several independent groups to boost his presidential bid. He has endorsed the principles of the bill Mr. Cruz has introduced, including better disclosure.

"You tell me they're not dealing with each other? So, I think PACs are very bad. I think they're very dangerous," Mr. Trump told CNN in January. "I do think there has to be transparency, but PACs are very bad."

Mr. Cruz's proposal is likely to draw opposition from many Democrats and the vocal community of liberal-leaning groups that have long advocated for stricter rules on money in politics.

"We and other reform groups will fight that kind of proposal," said Fred Wertheimer, president of Democracy 21, a group that advocates for curbing the influence of money in politics.

"The idea that you can solve our campaign finance problems by allowing million dollar contributions to go directly to officeholders who are in a position to make decisions that affect the donors is absurd. You increase the potential for corruption and you increase the ability to the super rich donors who came out of the woodwork this year to literally buy Congress," said Mr. Wertheimer.