The DISCLOSE Act of 2026 would rewrite federal campaign-finance disclosure rules to expose more of the money behind political spending. Any covered organization — corporation, LLC, 501(c)(4), labor union, or super PAC — that spends more than $10,000 on campaign-related ads in an election cycle would have to file a public statement within 24 hours listing its beneficial owners and every donor who gave $10,000 or more, certify the spending was not coordinated with a candidate, and apply the same rules to ads supporting or opposing federal judicial nominations. The bill expands the existing ban on foreign-national money to cover paid digital ads, ballot initiatives, and shell corporations created to hide foreign donors, and it creates a new federal crime, punishable by up to five years in prison, for setting up a company to conceal foreign election spending. Television, radio, online, and prerecorded-call ads would have to display or announce a "Top Five Funders" or "Top Two Funders" list along with a named individual saying they approve the message. Constitutional challenges to the law would be routed to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on an expedited schedule, and individual members of Congress would gain the right to sue or intervene to defend or attack the statute. The Government Accountability Office would study illicit foreign money in federal elections every four years through 2036, and the FEC and FinCEN would share information to enforce the new rules.
Civil Liberties
- Donor anonymity for issue and judicial-nomination ads — Names of $10,000+ donors must be disclosed
- Harassment-exemption process — At-risk donors can petition the FEC to keep their names confidential
Transparency & Accountability
- Campaign-spending disclosure — Covered organizations over $10,000 must file within 24 hours
- Donor disclosure threshold — Names of donors giving $10,000 or more must be reported
- Beneficial-owner disclosure — Non-public corporations and LLCs must identify the natural persons who control them
- Judicial-nomination ad reporting — Ads supporting or opposing federal judges now trigger campaign-style disclosure
- On-ad funder disclaimers — Video, audio, and digital ads must show their top funders
- Foreign-money ban scope — Extended to paid digital ads, ballot initiatives, and shell intermediaries
- GAO illicit-foreign-money study — Required every four-year cycle through the 2036 election
- FEC–FinCEN information sharing — Treasury financial-crime data routed to election regulators
- Speaker-identification disclaimer — A named individual must personally approve each covered ad
Congressional Summary
Democracy Is Strengthened by Casting Light On Spending in Elections Act of 2026 or the DISCLOSE Act of 2026This bill addresses campaign finance, including by expanding the prohibition on campaign spending by foreign nationals, requiring additional disclosures of campaign expenditures, and requiring additional disclosures regarding certain political advertisements.Specifically, the bill expands existing foreign money prohibitions to include disbursements for paid web-based or digital communications and federal judicial nomination communications. It also prohibits foreign nationals from contributing to campaigns related to ballot initiatives and referenda.The Government Accountability Office must, for each four-year election cycle, study and report on the incidence of illicit foreign money in federal elections.Next, the bill makes it unlawful to establish or use a corporation, company, or other entity with the intent to conceal an election contribution or donation by a foreign national. A violator is subject to criminal penalties—a fine, a prison term of up to five years, or both.Covered organizations (e.g., corporations, labor organizations, and political organizations) must, within 24 hours, file reports with the Federal Election Commission to disclose campaign expenditures of more than $10,000 during an election cycle.The bill also requires organizations to provide additional disclosures regarding political advertisements, including the donors who contributed the most money to that organization in the last year.
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- House
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Introduced in House
- Action Date
- 2026-03-04
- Date Added
- 2026-04-28
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