Sponsors (5)
Requires explicit opt-in for recurring political donations, bans passive consent (e.g., pre-checked boxes), mandates receipts and cancellation rights, and sets an FEC-or-180-day effective date.
Official title: To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to prohibit the solicitation and acceptance of a recurring contribution or donation in a campaign for election for Federal office by any method which does not require the contributor or donor to give affirmative consent to making the contribution or donation on a recurring basis, and for other purposes.
Introduced July 17, 2025 by Mike Levin · Last progress July 17, 2025
The bill improves donor protections, transparency, and trust by requiring affirmative consent, receipts, and immediate cancellation rights for recurring political charges, but does so at the cost of increased compliance, technical and administrative burdens and reduced recurring revenue stability for smaller political committees.
Donors (individual taxpayers and small donors) are less likely to be enrolled in unwanted recurring political charges and can stop future recurring charges immediately, reducing unexpected fees and giving consumers direct control over their payments.
Contributors receive clearer disclosure about future charges because recipients must provide receipts showing the date and amount of the next recurrence, enabling more informed consent before giving.
The rules reduce deceptive fundraising practices (e.g., pre-checked boxes) and improve transparency in political fundraising, which can strengthen public trust in campaign finance.
Political committees, independent spenders, payment processors, and vendors will face higher compliance and technical costs to implement affirmative-consent systems, receipts, and cancellation processes.
Smaller committees and grassroots groups with limited resources may lose recurring-donation revenue if donors must re-consent, reducing fundraising stability and potentially harming small-scale political participation.
An immediate-cancellation requirement could increase administrative burdens and lead to more refund disputes or operational friction for campaigns and state/local administrators handling payments.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Bars political committees and entities that run independent expenditures or electioneering communications from using pre-checked boxes or other passive means to enroll people in recurring donations. It requires explicit, affirmative consent for each contributor to be charged on a recurring basis, mandates clear receipts and cancellation information at the start and with each recurrence, and obligates recipients to stop recurring charges immediately upon request; the rules take effect either when the FEC issues implementing rules or 180 days after enactment, whichever comes first.