Can foreign nationals donate to U.S. elections?
No. Under 52 U.S.C. Section 30121, enacted as part of the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA), foreign nationals are prohibited from making any contribution, donation, expenditure, or disbursement of money or other thing of value in connection with any U.S. federal, state, or local election. A 'foreign national' under this provision is any person who is not a U.S. citizen, not a U.S. national, and -- under the FEC's regulatory interpretation at 11 CFR 110.20 -- not a lawful permanent resident (green card holder); lawful permanent residents may contribute to federal campaigns on the same terms as U.S. citizens. Foreign governments, foreign political parties, and foreign corporations are prohibited regardless of whether they operate through U.S.-incorporated affiliates. Section 30121(a)(2) also prohibits any person -- U.S. citizen or not -- from knowingly soliciting, accepting, or receiving a contribution on behalf of a foreign national, closing the conduit or 'straw man' loophole. Violations carry civil penalties enforced by the FEC and, for knowing and willful violations, criminal penalties under 52 U.S.C. Section 30109(d). For the 2028 presidential election, every registered campaign committee must screen contributions for foreign national origin and promptly return any prohibited contribution.
The foreign national contribution ban is one of FECA's most absolute prohibitions. Under 52 U.S.C. Section 30121, it is unlawful for a foreign national to directly or indirectly make a contribution or donation of money or other thing of value, or to make an express or implied promise to make a contribution or donation, in connection with any U.S. federal, state, or local election. The prohibition covers not only direct contributions to a candidate's authorized committee but also donations to political party committees, expenditures for electioneering communications, and any other election-related financial activity. The breadth of the prohibition reflects Congress's judgment that foreign money in U.S. elections -- at any level of government, from any foreign source, in any amount -- threatens the integrity of the democratic process by enabling foreign interests to influence the selection of U.S. officeholders. The foreign national ban has been part of FECA since its major 1974 amendments (Pub. L. 93-443) and was reaffirmed in the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA, Pub. L. 107-155). Unlike FECA's per-election contribution limits -- which the Supreme Court analyzed on First Amendment grounds in Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1 (1976) -- the foreign national ban raises no comparable First Amendment issue because foreign nationals residing outside the United States do not possess the constitutional rights of political participation that U.S. citizens and residents hold under the First Amendment.
The FEC has defined 'foreign national' for purposes of Section 30121 through its regulations at 11 CFR 110.20. Under those regulations, a foreign national is any person who is not a U.S. citizen, not a U.S. national, and not an individual lawfully admitted for permanent residence under the Immigration and Nationality Act. This means lawful permanent residents -- commonly known as green card holders -- are not treated as foreign nationals and are permitted to make contributions to U.S. federal campaigns at the same per-election limits that apply to U.S. citizens. The FEC has confirmed this interpretation in advisory opinions, reasoning that a lawful permanent resident's legal status reflects a committed, long-term relationship with the United States that distinguishes them from temporary visitors or overseas persons with no legal ties to the country. Beyond individuals, foreign artificial persons are also covered by the ban: foreign corporations, foreign limited liability companies, foreign partnerships, foreign associations, foreign governments, and foreign political parties may not contribute to U.S. elections directly or indirectly. A U.S.-incorporated subsidiary of a foreign parent corporation may maintain a connected separate segregated fund (PAC) funded by voluntary contributions from eligible U.S. employees; however, if a foreign national controls that entity's contribution-related decisions, the FEC treats the contributions as prohibited foreign national contributions under 11 CFR 110.20(i).
Section 30121(a)(2) adds a critical enforcement mechanism: the conduit or straw man prohibition. It is unlawful for any person -- including a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident -- to knowingly solicit, accept, or receive from a foreign national a contribution or donation, or to knowingly provide substantial assistance to a foreign national seeking to make a prohibited contribution. The conduit prohibition addresses the obvious evasion route: a foreign national cannot comply with Section 30121 by routing money through a U.S. intermediary who then passes it to the campaign. FEC regulations at 11 CFR 110.20(g) implement the conduit prohibition and clarify that 'knowingly' requires awareness of the foreign national status of the original source -- a U.S. person who unknowingly transmits a foreign national's contribution does not violate Section 30121, but must return the contribution promptly upon learning its origin. The FEC's interpretive guidance requires campaign committees to exercise reasonable due diligence in screening contributions for potential foreign national origin, including reviewing contributor addresses, names, and payment-method information that may signal a foreign source. A committee that discovers it has received a foreign national contribution should return it promptly; the FEC treats prompt return more favorably in enforcement proceedings than retention and expenditure of the prohibited funds.
Violations of 52 U.S.C. Section 30121 are subject to civil enforcement by the FEC under 52 U.S.C. Section 30109. The FEC must find 'reason to believe' a violation occurred before opening a formal investigation; it then provides respondents an opportunity to address the matter through a conciliation agreement, which may include civil monetary penalties. For a knowing and willful violation, FECA allows civil fines up to the greater of $20,000 or 200 percent of the amount of the improper contribution. Knowing and willful violations of FECA -- including Section 30121 -- also carry criminal penalties under 52 U.S.C. Section 30109(d): imprisonment of up to five years and substantial fines for violations involving contributions or expenditures of $25,000 or more. The Department of Justice prosecutes criminal campaign finance violations, including foreign national contribution cases, typically in coordination with the FEC. Prosecutions have been brought in multiple election cycles for schemes in which foreign nationals -- including foreign nationals acting through U.S. intermediaries -- contributed to U.S. federal and state campaigns. The combination of civil and criminal enforcement, with potential imprisonment for the most serious violations, makes the foreign national contribution ban one of the most consequential provisions in federal campaign finance law.
For the 2028 presidential election, the foreign national contribution ban will require heightened vigilance from campaign committees in what is expected to be the most expensive presidential cycle in U.S. history. Online fundraising platforms that process small-dollar contributions at scale must implement controls to flag and block contributions from foreign-origin payment methods or addresses outside the United States. Campaigns must also screen large individual contributions for donor eligibility, particularly where contributor names, addresses, or occupations suggest a possible foreign connection. Super PACs and other outside groups supporting 2028 presidential candidates are equally subject to the ban and must screen their own donor lists. Foreign governments, sovereign wealth funds, and foreign-state-controlled corporations cannot structure contributions to reach U.S. political committees through intermediary arrangements -- the conduit prohibition reaches any knowing transmittal of foreign national funds regardless of structural complexity. The ban applies with equal force to contributions of any size: there is no de minimis threshold below which a foreign national contribution is permissible, and no exemption applies based on the election's geographic level (federal, state, or local). Every direct contribution, every bundled donation, and every digital small-dollar gift to a 2028 campaign committee must originate from an eligible U.S. source.
Related: What is a contribution limit? (the per-election dollar caps that govern all eligible contributions; foreign nationals face a zero-dollar absolute bar, not merely a capped amount) | What is the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA)? (the statute that enacted 52 U.S.C. Section 30121, the foreign national contribution ban) | What is campaign finance disclosure? (the FEC reporting system through which foreign national contributions can be identified, traced, and returned) | What is hard money in politics? (all lawful direct contributions to federal campaigns -- foreign national contributions are absolutely prohibited, not merely limited) | What is a PAC? (a U.S.-incorporated entity's connected PAC must still exclude foreign national contributions from eligible U.S. employees) | What is coordination in campaign finance? (the coordination rules govern foreign-national-funded groups in the same way as domestic groups) | What is the Federal Election Commission (FEC)? (the agency with primary civil enforcement jurisdiction over 52 U.S.C. Section 30121 violations) | When is the 2028 election?
Related questions
Can foreign nationals donate to U.S. presidential campaigns?
Who counts as a 'foreign national' under 52 U.S.C. Section 30121?
What is the straw man or conduit prohibition in campaign finance?
What penalties apply for accepting foreign national contributions?
Can a foreign corporation donate to a U.S. political campaign through a U.S. subsidiary?
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Related explainers
A contribution limit in federal campaign finance is the maximum dollar amount that any individual or political committee may give to a federal candidate's authorized committee in a single election, as set by the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) at 52 U.S.C. Section 30116. Contribution limits are the defining characteristic of 'hard money': only regulated, limit-compliant donations may be given directly to a candidate's campaign. FECA's 1974 amendments established the original per-election limits -- $1,000 per election for individuals and $5,000 per election for multi-candidate PACs -- figures analyzed and upheld in Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1 (1976). The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA, Pub. L. 107-155) raised the individual limit to $2,000 per election and added inflation indexing via the Consumer Price Index, so the individual limit increases each election cycle; the multi-candidate PAC limit of $5,000 per election was set by statute and has not been inflation-adjusted. A 'per election' means each primary election and the general election are counted separately, so a contributor eligible for the current individual limit may give up to that amount to a candidate in the primary and up to that same amount again in the general. In McCutcheon v. FEC, 572 U.S. 185 (2014), the Supreme Court struck the former aggregate biennial limits on total individual contributions across all candidates and committees, but left all per-election contribution limits to individual candidates fully intact. For 2028, every direct donation to a presidential campaign committee must comply with FECA's per-election contribution limits; current cycle amounts should be verified at fec.gov.
The Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA, Pub. L. 92-225), originally signed by President Nixon on February 7, 1972, is the foundational federal statute regulating the financing of federal elections. Its landmark 1974 amendments (Pub. L. 93-443, signed by President Ford on October 15, 1974) created the Federal Election Commission, established individual contribution limits of $1,000 per candidate per election, set PAC limits at $5,000 per candidate per election, created the presidential public funding program, and set candidate expenditure limits. In Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1 (1976), the Supreme Court upheld contribution limits and disclosure requirements but struck down expenditure limits as unconstitutional restrictions on First Amendment speech. FECA -- as amended by the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (2002) and interpreted through Citizens United (2010) -- remains the primary legal framework governing 2028 presidential campaign finance.
Campaign finance disclosure in federal elections is the mandatory public financial reporting system created by the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA). Under 52 U.S.C. Section 30103, any political committee -- including a presidential candidate's authorized committee -- that receives contributions or makes expenditures exceeding $1,000 must register with the Federal Election Commission. Under 52 U.S.C. Section 30104, registered committees must file periodic financial reports disclosing contributions above $200 (with each donor's name, address, occupation, employer, date, and amount) and expenditures above $200 (with payee name, address, date, amount, and purpose). The FEC publishes all filings in a searchable public database at fec.gov. The Supreme Court sustained FECA's disclosure provisions in Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1 (1976), holding that the government's substantial interests in informing voters and deterring corruption outweigh the marginal burden public reporting places on political association. In Citizens United v. FEC, 558 U.S. 310 (2010), eight of nine Justices upheld the disclosure and disclaimer requirements applicable to electioneering communications. For the 2028 presidential election, every registered campaign committee and qualifying outside group will file regular disclosure reports that become publicly searchable at fec.gov.
Hard money is a practitioner term -- not a term used by the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) itself -- for political contributions and expenditures that are fully subject to FECA's per-election dollar limits, source restrictions, and public disclosure requirements filed with the Federal Election Commission. The term emerged in the late 1970s and early 1980s as a contrast to 'soft money,' the then-unregulated category of contributions to national political party committees for nominally non-federal activities. Hard money contribution limits -- set by 52 U.S.C. Section 30116 and adjusted for inflation by the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA, Pub. L. 107-155) -- govern how much individuals, PACs, and party committees may give directly to a federal candidate's campaign. Source restrictions at 52 U.S.C. Section 30118 bar corporations and labor unions from contributing treasury funds directly to candidates. After BCRA banned soft money at the national party level (52 U.S.C. Section 30125), all money that national party committees may raise is hard money. Citizens United v. FEC, 558 U.S. 310 (2010), did not change the hard money rules for direct contributions; it addressed only independent expenditures -- spending not coordinated with any campaign. For the 2028 presidential election, hard money contribution limits govern every direct donation to a presidential campaign committee.
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