Van Hollen, Garcia Announce New Bill to Prevent Billionaires, Corporate Execs from Simultaneously Donating to Federal Campaigns While Benefiting from Government Contracts

As the American people increasingly worry about corporations and billionaire donors pumping millions of dollars into elections, U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Congressman Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, are announcing new legislation to close the loophole that allows donors benefitting from federal contracts to pour increasingly obscene amounts of campaign contributions into American elections. The lawmakers’ bill would end the “Musk loophole” by expanding current law that prevents federal contractors from donating to a political party, candidate, or committee to ensure that those with the most to benefit – like corporate executives and major shareholders – fall within the law. “We need to end the rotten political system that allows individuals like Elon Musk to spend unlimited sums of money to elect candidates who turn around and vote to send your tax dollars to their corporations through huge federal contracts. This legislation will close that corrupt campaign cash-for-contracts loophole. It will help ensure that our federal government prioritizes the needs of the American people, not corporations making billions of dollars from taxpayer-funded federal contracts,” said Senator Van Hollen . “Federal contractors shouldn’t be able to use their positions to buy influence. This bill strengthens the ban on campaign contributions from senior federal contractors, ensuring that government contracts are awarded on merit, not political connections. I am proud to join Senator Van Hollen to hold federal contractors to the highest standards of accountability,” said Congressman Garcia . The legislation is supported by Campaign Legal Center, Brennan Center for Justice, Democracy 21, Public Citizen, End Citizens United Action Fund, Common Cause, Indivisible, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), Democracy Defenders Action, and Stand Up America. Americans across the country are watching in horror as billionaires and corporations attempt to influence our election system. For example, Elon Musk’s companies have received tens of billions of dollars in contracts from the federal government. At the same time, Musk donated over $290 million to President Trump and his Republican allies’ campaigns in the 2024 cycle and has spent a record-breaking more than $440 million in the 2026 cycle to help the Republican Party retain control of Congress. He is not the only one – many other individuals who control companies that benefit from federal contracts donate exorbitant sums of money to candidates and the PACs and Super PACs that help elect them. This legislation would expand current law – that has already been upheld by our court system – to put an end to that corruption. The Close the Campaign Cash-for-Contracts Loophole Act would: Expand the current ban to cover federal contractors’ executive office holders, major shareholders, and affiliated corporations Establish a one-year “cooling off” period after the completion of a federal contract to prohibit federal contractors from making contributions soon after finishing performance on a contract only then to seek additional contracts Prevent dark money organizations from being used as pass-throughs by requiring any federal contractor donations to be held separately and prohibit them from being spent on any campaigns or electoral materials Add a prohibition on accepting (as opposed to just soliciting) illegal federal contractor contributions Require illegal contributions to be turned over to the Treasury rather than simply refunded to the donor “For more than 75 years, federal law has barred government contractors from making political contributions to prevent lucrative, taxpayer-funded contracts from being sold to big donors,” said Saurav Ghosh, director of federal campaign finance reform at Campaign Legal Center . “The idea of companies buying influence with the elected officials who help decide how to award federal contracts is such a clear avenue for corruption that courts have long upheld this law as an important tool for protecting voters. Unfortunately, federal contractors routinely exploit well-recognized gaps in the law to engage in the very pay-to-play corruption Congress intended to foreclose. That’s why Campaign Legal Center endorses the Close the Campaign Cash-for-Contracts Loophole Act. This important legislation will prevent corporate executives from circumventing this important prohibition, address the problem of contractors funneling illegal contributions through dark money groups, and ensure that the money contractors use to make illegal contributions is returned to taxpayers. We applaud Senator Van Hollen and Representative Garcia for introducing this bill and call on Congress to pass it without delay.” “Americans are furious about political corruption. Meanwhile, weak rules allow companies and individuals making huge profits from federal contracts to spend lavishly to help elect the very officials who influence how those contracts are awarded,” said Daniel Weiner, Senior Director of the Elections & Government Program at the Brennan Center for Justice . “That has to change. The Close the Campaign Cash-for-Contracts Loophole Act is a clear and necessary step to curb pay-for-play corruption and ensure Americans can have confidence that their money is spent wisely and their government is working for them.” “Democracy 21 strongly supports the Close the Campaign Cash-for-Contracts Loophole Act being introduced by Senator Chris Van Hollen and Representative Robert Garcia. This bill will close a massive loophole in the government contractor ban by extending its coverage to include contractors’ executive office holders, major shareholders, and affiliated corporations. You have to go no further than Elon Musk to understand why this new anti-corruption legislation is essential to protect the interests of the American people. Musk is the biggest campaign contributor in American history and his companies have many billions of dollars in government contracts. Musk is the poster child for why pay-to-play legislation must cover executive office holders and major shareholders if it is to accomplish its goals. We strongly commend Senator Van Hollen and Rep. Garcia for their leadership on this key government integrity legislation,” said Fred Wertheimer, President of Democracy 21 . “The Close the Campaign Cash-for-Contracts Loophole Act would put the brakes on wealthy special interests buying lucrative federal contracts through campaign donations. Wealthy entities all too often secure government contracts by making sizable campaign contributions to those responsible for awarding the contracts. Though federal law currently prohibits the actual ‘contracting entity’ from making such contributions, all the senior executives and owners get around the law by pooling individual contributions in the name of the contracting entity. Sen. Van Hollen's and Rep. Garcia's bill would close this loophole by simply extending the ban to the senior executives and owners of a contracting entity as well as the entity itself. Public Citizen heartily endorses this measure,” said Craig Holman, Ph.D., Public Citizen . “The current ban on federal contractors making political contributions is riddled with loopholes,” said End Citizens United Action Fund President Tiffany Muller . “Billionaires like Elon Musk are still able to pour hundreds of millions into our elections while their companies collect billions in government contracts. The Close the Campaign Cash-for-Contracts Loophole Act would prevent this pay-to-play corruption by extending the ban to executives, major shareholders, and affiliated companies. We thank Senator Van Hollen and Representative Garcia for their ongoing leadership in making sure taxpayer dollars are not used to reward political donors.” “Poll after poll shows that Americans are deeply concerned about corruption and want serious solutions to protect taxpayer dollars,” said Abigail Bellows, Senior Policy Director of Anti-corruption and Accountability at Common Cause . “That's why we applaud the introduction of the Close the Campaign Cash-for-Contracts Loophole Act. This bill would make it illegal for the people who benefit from federal contracts to pay off the very same politicians who decide where federal contracts go. Congress should pass this bill in order to make sure our tax dollars are spent responsibly – not steered toward politically connected contractors.” “Right now, millionaires and billionaires who own or control companies that contract with the federal government can evade protections meant to prevent federal contractors from engaging in pay-to-play schemes,” said Debra Perlin, Vice President for Policy at CREW . “The Close Campaign Cash-for-Contracts Loophole Act would fix a gap in the law that allows executives, major shareholders and corporations affiliated with federal contractors to make contributions to political parties and candidates in an effort to gain an unfair advantage in securing or maintaining federal contracts. CREW is proud to endorse this legislation, sponsored by Senator Chris Van Hollen and Representative Robert Garcia, and urges Congress to act on it without delay.” “Americans deserve to know that their hard-earned tax dollars are spent wisely by public officials. If big government contractors are able to make large political contributions and get billions of dollars in contracts in return, this pay-to-play system shows that government is open to the highest bidder rather than the best value for the American people,” said Virginia Canter, Chief Counsel and Director of Anti-Corruption and Ethics at Democracy Defenders Action . “We applaud Senator Van Hollen and Ranking Member Garcia for their leadership for announcing the Close the Campaign Cash-for-Contracts Loophole Act. We urge Congress to quickly consider this bill to ensure that government can truly be of, by, and for the people, not of, by, and for the billionaires, special interests, and big government contractors.” A summary of the bill is available here . Text of the legislation is available here .