Federal candidates and officeholders would be barred from using campaign funds to pay their spouse for work done for the campaign under this bill, called the OMAR Act. Campaigns would also have to file separate public reports listing any payments made to the candidate's spouse or immediate family members, including parents, siblings, and children. If a candidate knowingly violates the spousal pay ban, penalties would fall on the candidate personally — not the campaign committee — and the campaign could not reimburse the candidate for those fines. The rules would apply to authorized campaign committees and any political committee controlled by a federal officeholder.
Congressional Summary
Oversight for Members And Relatives Act or the OMAR Act This bill prohibits the use of campaign funds to compensate the spouse of a candidate or an individual holding federal office. It also requires disclosure of payments made to spouses or immediate family members. Specifically, the bill prohibits an authorized committee of a candidate or any other political committee that is established, maintained, or controlled by a candidate or an individual holding federal office from directly or indirectly compensating the spouse of the candidate or individual for services provided to or on behalf of the committee. The prohibition does not apply to a political committee of a political party. Next, the bill requires a political committee to report on disbursements to the spouse or an immediate family member of the candidate or the individual holding federal office. Finally, the bill requires any penalty for a violation of the bill to be imposed on the candidate or the individual holding federal office if the candidate or individual involved knew of the violation. Further, it prohibits the committee involved from reimbursing the candidate or individual for the penalty.
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- House
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Introduced in House
- Action Date
- 2026-01-30
- Date Added
- 2026-04-10
- Source
- Congress.gov →
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