Title 52 › Subtitle III — Federal Campaign Finance › CHAPTER 301 — FEDERAL ELECTION CAMPAIGNS › SUBCHAPTER I — DISCLOSURE OF FEDERAL CAMPAIGN FUNDS › § 30116
Limits how much people and political groups can give or spend in federal elections. An individual may not give more than $2,000 to a candidate (per election) and has yearly caps: $25,000 to national party political committees (or up to 300% of that for certain special national accounts), $5,000 to other political committees, and $10,000 to a State party committee’s political committee. Multicandidate political committees (PACs) may give up to $5,000 per candidate, $15,000 per year to national party committees (or up to 300% for the special accounts), and $5,000 per year to other committees. Over the two-year period that starts Jan 1 of an odd-numbered year and ends Dec 31 of the next even-numbered year, an individual’s total giving may not exceed $37,500 to candidates and $57,500 to other committees (with no more than $37,500 to non‑national‑party political committees). Transfers among national, State, district, or local committees of the same party are allowed. Party national and State committees may spend limited amounts in general elections: for President, the national committee may spend up to 2 cents times the U.S. voting‑age population for its nominee; for Senate the greater of 2 cents times the State voting‑age population or $20,000; for House races $10,000. Candidates for President who get public funds may not spend more than $10,000,000 for the nomination (with a per‑State cap of the greater of 16 cents times the State voting‑age population or $200,000) and $20,000,000 for the general election. Contributions must be reported and treated as coming from the original source even if passed through others; coordinated spending with a campaign counts as a contribution. No one may knowingly accept contributions or make expenditures that break these limits. Special rules let Senate candidates raise higher amounts if an opponent spends large personal funds; the “threshold amount” is $150,000 plus $0.04 times the State voting‑age population, and increased limits can be 3× or 6× the normal limits depending on how large the opponent’s personal spending is; candidates must wait for official notice and unused extra money must be returned within 50 days of the election. Personal campaign loans made after the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 cannot be repaid from post‑election contributions to the extent they exceed $250,000. Definitions (one line each): multicandidate political committee — a PAC registered at least 6 months, with contributions from more than 50 people and (except State party orgs) having given to 5+ federal candidates; price index — the Consumer Price Index (all items, U.S. city average); base period — 1974 for some limits, 2001 for others; voting‑age population — residents age 18 or older; account described in paragraph (9) — special national party accounts for convention costs, party headquarters, or recount/legal costs (convention account spending capped at $20,000,000 for a single convention); opposition personal funds amount — the amount by which an opponent’s personal spending exceeds the candidate’s personal spending; threshold amount — $150,000 plus $0.04 times the relevant State voting‑age population.
Full Legal Text
Voting and Elections, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
Legislative History
Reference
Citation
52 U.S.C. § 30116
Title 52, Voting and Elections
Last Updated
Sep 23, 2026
Release point: 119-110