The rules
The limits on giving to a candidate are still the law. The agency that enforces them is down to 2 of its 6 seats, and it needs 4 to act.
The referee: 2 of 6 seats
The Federal Election Commission (the FEC) enforces every limit on this page. It has six seats and needs four members to do anything beyond paperwork. It has had fewer than four since May 1, 2025, and two since October 2025.[8][9]
Both remaining commissioners are Democrats. It's the first time since the FEC was created in 1974 that one of the two major parties has no one on it. Two Republican nominees were named in February 2026; as of October 7, the Senate hadn't held a hearing on either.[8]
What only 2 seats means
investigations opened, fines issued or cases closed since May 2025. In the 12 months before, the FEC closed 180 cases and issued about $1 million in fines.[8]
complaints waiting, double the 154 of a year earlier. Some of the stalled investigations started in 2022 and 2023.[8][10]
is how long the FEC has to go after a violation. The longer the pause lasts, the more old cases risk running out the clock, never decided.[10]
Checking a campaign's books also takes four votes, so no audits can be approved.[10]
Members of Congress asked whether betting on prediction markets counts as a campaign contribution, about AI chatbots spreading election misinformation, and about paying legal bills with campaign money. The FEC couldn't give an official answer to any of them.[8]
What still works: staff still collect and publish every campaign's reports (the numbers on this site come from them), answer questions, and accept new complaints.[8] What it doesn't change: the limits below are still the law. Until four seats are filled, though, the agency can't charge anyone with breaking them. As of October 7, that had been true for the whole 2026 campaign.[8]
The limits it can't enforce: to one candidate, per election
The primary and the general election count separately, so a donor can give each of these amounts twice.[1]
Bars are to scale against the $5,000 PAC limit. The striped ones have no scale. Super PACs and nonprofits may not give money to a candidate or plan ads with one, but there is no limit on what they spend on their own.[1]
Corrections
Every number on this site links to the filing it came from. If one is wrong, or a name, a side or a date doesn't match its source, email themoneyflow@proton.me with the page and, if you can, a link to the filing.
How it works: every report is checked against the original government filing. A confirmed error is fixed on the site, usually within a day, and listed below with the date and what changed. Fixes are never made silently, and nothing is taken down without a note here. Your name and email are never published.
Corrections log
- None yet (as of November 2, 2026).