YourVoice.Now Summary
Civil LibertiesTransparency & AccountabilityCandidates who lose or retire would get about two years to clear out the campaign account.
Civil Liberties
A former candidate could no longer park money for a run years down the road. Filing for the next race before the clock starts is the only way to keep the account.
Transparency & Accountability
Right now, a losing or retiring candidate can hold leftover campaign money with no end date. This bill would set a two-year clock that starts after the filing deadline for the next election.
The clock would end early the day a former candidate makes a lobbying contact that requires signing up as a lobbyist. It would also end the day they become an agent of a foreign government.
Committees would first pay off what they owe. Whatever is left could only be refunded to donors, given to a charity, or sent to a political party.
Campaign money could not go to a candidate's parents, children, brothers, sisters, spouse, in-laws, or cousins. The one exception is paying a real campaign bill that the committee reports.
People signing up as lobbyists or foreign agents would state that their old campaign accounts follow the new rule. They would sign under penalty of perjury, so lying on the form is a crime.
More about this bill
Most people would see no change in daily life. The rules here apply to people who run for Congress or other federal offices. A candidate who loses or retires can now sit on leftover campaign money for years. This bill would give them about two years to pay it all out. The account would have to be emptied sooner if the former candidate starts lobbying. The same goes for anyone who signs on to work for a foreign government. Leftover money could only go to four places: campaign debts, refunds to donors, charity, or a political party. None of it could go to a relative, unless it pays a campaign bill the committee reports. Former candidates who register as lobbyists or foreign agents would swear their accounts follow the rule. They would sign that under penalty of perjury. The change would start with the November 2026 election.
Congressional Summary
Honest Elections and Campaign, No Gain Act This bill establishes certain requirements for disbursing unused funds after a federal election. The bill also requires former candidates serving as registered lobbyists or foreign agents to comply with disbursement requirements. Specifically, the bill requires each authorized committee or leadership political action committee (PAC) of a candidate to disburse all unused funds within a specified time period beginning after an election or before the candidate registers as a lobbyist or foreign agent, unless the candidate files to run for office again before the disbursement period begins. A committee or PAC disbursing unspent funds shall first pay any obligations incurred. If funds are left over, the committee or PAC may only disburse the funds in one or more of the following ways: (1) returning funds to donors; (2) making contributions to nonprofit organizations; and (3) transferring funds without limitation to a national, state, or local committee of a political party. The bill generally prohibits disbursements to relatives of the candidate. A former candidate must, in order to register as a lobbyist or foreign agent, comply with the disbursement requirements outlined by this bill.
Legislative Subjects
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Introduced in House
- Action Date
- 2025-07-29
- Date Added
- 2026-03-31
- Source
- Congress.gov →
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