Skip to content
Project 2025
Search

Latest Stories

Follow Us:
Top Stories
Protesters gather at the Wisconsin State Capitol, holding signs.

Trump's Water Policies Put America's Drinking Water at Risk

America at 250: A Country in Distress

America at 250: A Country in Distress

Bruce Springsteen In Concert, facing his audience.

Springsteen’s October D.C. Festival Pushes Music Into Democracy Fight

Declaration of Independence

The Inherited Stage

Fact brief: Can foreigners indirectly fund political ads by giving money to a U.S. nonprofit that then gives money to a U.S. super PAC?

U.S. Capitol surrounded by money
Greggory DiSalvo/Getty Images
Tom Kertscher
By Tom KertscherMar 18, 2024
Tom Kertscher
Tom Kertscher, Wisconsin Watch is a contributor for The Fulcrum, a nonpartisan publication dedicated to strengthening democracy by fostering informed civic engagement and elevating diverse perspectives.
See More Writings by author

This fact brief was originally published by Wisconsin Watch. Read the original here. Fact briefs are published by newsrooms in the Gigafact network, and republished by The Fulcrum. Visit Gigafact to learn more.

Can foreigners indirectly fund political ads by giving money to a U.S. nonprofit that then gives money to a U.S. super PAC?

Yes.

Federal law prohibits a foreign national — someone who is not a U.S. citizen and not lawfully a permanent resident — from making contributions in connection with any federal, state or local election.

But there’s a loophole.

Foreign nationals can donate money to social welfare organizations, also known as 501(c)(4) groups. Those nonprofits, such as the NRA and an arm of Planned Parenthood, can contribute to super PACs.

A super PAC can spend unlimited sums to advocate for or against political candidates.

Federal Election Commission chair Sean Cooksey told the U.S. House Administration Committee that the loophole is legal, as long as a foreign national donor doesn’t direct the nonprofit to channel money to a super PAC.

Committee chair, Republican Rep. Bryan Steil, who represents southeast Wisconsin, introduced a bill in July 2023 to restrict foreign nationals’ contributions to 501(c)(4) groups. The House of Representatives has not voted on the measure.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

Federal Election Commission Foreign nationals

U.S. Code Voting and Elections

Internal Revenue Service Social Welfare Organizations

Nonprofit Law Blog 501(c)(4) Social Welfare Organizations

Planned Parenthood Donor FAQ

charitynavigator.org NRA

Open Secrets Super PACs

Committee on House Administration Chairman Bryan Steil Q&A at the Full Committee Hearing on FEC Oversight

US Congress All Actions: H.R.4563 — 118th Congress (2023-2024) All Information (Except Text)

US Congress H.R. 4563


Latest news

Woman struggling to pull blue donkey with rope
Democracy

Centrist Democrats' New "Promise to America." Ho-Hum.

Lego Bricks in child hands
Economy

The Dreams That Built America—and Will Carry Us Forward

6 US Cities that Show America What Independent Leadership Looks Like
Governance & Legislation

6 US Cities that Show America What Independent Leadership Looks Like

Read More

Federal Register Reports being printed out of a large machine.

Congress should strengthen the administrative state by writing clearer laws, limiting delegated authority, and requiring periodic reauthorization of agency powers.

Photo courtesy of Luka Jacobi-Krohn

Putting the Guardrails Back on Delegations of Power

Congress needs to write better laws instead of dismantling the administrative state.

Debates over the administrative state focus on whether these agencies have accrued too much power. Some argue that the solution is to severely weaken or, in extreme scenarios, dismantle these federal agencies. However, the issue is not the existence of these agencies but actually how Congress writes its laws. When statutes are drafted with vague language, agencies are left to interpret the scope, and courts are forced to set the boundaries. This results in constant litigation and generally regulatory instability. If Congress actually wants a more durable and accountable regulatory system, they need to start with themselves by writing clearer laws.

Keep ReadingShow less
Businesspeople walking in line across world map, painted on asphalt

America's immigration debate reflects a deeper question: Does America still believe in itself? A historical look at immigration, assimilation, and American identity.

Klaus Vedfelt / Getty Images

What Immigration Debates Reveal About National Confidence

America has spent 250 years arguing about immigrants.

But beneath the arguments about visas, walls, asylum claims, deportations, and border security lies a more uncomfortable question:

Keep ReadingShow less
The U.S. flag, waving, with the ends of it frayed.

The U.S. is falling short of what its national wealth makes possible for its people.

Eric Raptosh Photography/Tetra images via GettyImages

Americans Are Not As Well Off As People in Peer Nations – Us Safety Net’s Shortfalls Show Up in Global Data

As the United States celebrates the 250th anniversary of its Declaration of Independence, the global data we collect and analyze shows that the country is failing to “promote the general Welfare,” as the Constitution’s framers promised a little more than a decade later.

We are scholars of human rights. Alongside the Human Rights Measurement Initiative, a nonprofit that tracks how well more than 200 countries and territories are meeting the human rights commitments their governments have made, we annually update scores measuring whether people can actually get the basics of a decent life, such as healthcare, adequate food and a quality education.

Keep ReadingShow less
No Party. No Big Money. No Problem: How an Independent Mayor Beat the Machine in Ridgecrest

Dr. Travis Endicott, Mayor of Ridgecrest, California

Photo provided

No Party. No Big Money. No Problem: How an Independent Mayor Beat the Machine in Ridgecrest

Much of the national conversation about independent politics focuses on candidates. Less attention goes to the independents who have already won and are now doing the actual work of governing without a party behind them.

This is the first installment in a new IVN series profiling independent elected officials in an attempt to address that shortcoming.

Keep ReadingShow less
© Copyright 2026