ActBlue scrutiny fuels new GOP bills to tighten election donation rules

ActBlue scrutiny fuels new GOP bills to tighten election donation rules

The bills come as ActBlue faces scrutiny over leaked memos about its handling of foreign national contributions

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Democrats fight 'SAVE Act' for election integrity, Rep. Steil responds to Schumer's stance

Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wis., weighs in as White House and Republicans criticize Democrats for opposing the SAVE Act for election integrity, which includes voter ID.

FIRST ON FOX: House Administration Committee Chairman Bryan Steil, R-Wis., introduced a legislative package on Monday designed to improve transparency and security in campaign finance as a major Democratic payment processor faces scrutiny over foreign donations.

Steil’s package includes two bills: The Campaign Finance Transparency Act and the Preventing Foreign Influence in American Elections Act, Fox News Digital learned. The first piece of legislation would impose a suite of new transparency regulations on organizations that process political donations, such as ActBlue, while the second proposed law seeks to prevent foreign nationals from funding election-related activities through means other than campaign contributions.

A spokesman for Steil confirmed to Fox News Digital that they plan to expedite consideration of these bills through the administration committee.

"My investigation into ActBlue has demonstrated that the current campaign finance laws weren’t drafted for the modern era we live in," the congressman told Fox News Digital. "The major gaps we’ve uncovered are being exploited by fraudsters and foreign nationals to make illegal political donations. For example, right now an individual can easily make a fraudulent donation online in someone else’s name and avoid getting caught. That’s an unacceptable vulnerability that bad actors are taking advantage of."

DEM FUNDRAISING GIANT ACTBLUE ROCKED BY ALLEGATIONS IT MISLED CONGRESS ABOUT FOREIGN DONATIONS

Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wis., speaks during the House Administration Committee hearing titled "Looking Ahead Series: House Sergeant at Arms Strategic Plan for the 118th Congress" in the Longworth Building on April 18, 2023. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc)

ActBlue is under increased scrutiny from congressional Republicans after the New York Times in April reported, citing leaked internal memos, that the payment processor’s lawyers warned that it may have misled Congress regarding its efforts to stop foreign nationals from donating to American politicians.

"It can be alleged that ActBlue accepted and/or facilitated the acceptance of foreign-national contributions into American elections," one memo reportedly stated. "In addition, because ActBlue’s staff was aware that its system was not as robust as necessary, it could be alleged that these violations were ‘knowing and willful,’ a standard that both increases the penalties the F.E.C. might seek and gives the Justice Department jurisdiction for a potential criminal investigation."

Fox News Digital has not independently confirmed the content of the ActBlue legal memos. ActBlue has denied breaking any laws, saying that its statements to Congress were rigorously reviewed by lawyers before being submitted, and characterized Republican inquiries as partisan in nature.

WinRed, the conservative equivalent to ActBlue, would also be covered by the laws if they pass. An Associated Press investigation in May 2025 found that Trump’s campaign reports listed citizenship as "verified" for two of more than 200 donors living abroad who contributed to him, many through WinRed.

WinRed and ActBlue did not respond to requests for comment when reached by Fox News Digital on Monday.

Exterior view of ActBlue offices building with glass windows and signage. (Getty Images)

ACTBLUE SUES TEXAS AG KEN PAXTON, ALLEGING POLITICAL RETALIATION OVER DEMOCRATS' FUNDRAISING

Republicans have long argued that making donations with gift cards allows individuals to more easily conceal their identities while making illegal contributions. ActBlue’s lawyers also claimed, according to the memos viewed by the Times, that the payment processor sometimes failed to collect verification documents from donors residing in foreign countries to ensure they could legally make contributions.

Steil’s Campaign Finance Transparency Act will, among other things, prohibit political donations made using gift cards, require the name on a credit or debit card to match that of a prospective campaign donor and mandates the verification of citizenship or permanent resident status for donors without an American mailing address.

ActBlue, according to a letter it sent to Congress in April, no longer processes donations originating from outside the United States. The processor previously prompted foreign donors to input their passport number when making donations using credit or debit cards, per the letter.

Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wis., speaks during a House Financial Services Committee hearing on oversight of the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve's pandemic response in the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 2, 2020. (Greg Nash/Pool/Reuters)

STATE CONSERVATIVES DEMAND ACTION ON NONCITIZEN VOTING: ‘TIME FOR CONGRESS TO LISTEN’

Conservatives have also, in recent years, argued that foreign nationals are influencing American elections in ways beyond traditional campaign contributions.

Steil’s Preventing Foreign Influence in American Elections Act seeks to stop foreign donors from funding election-related activities such as ballot harvesting, voter registration initiatives and the commissioning of polls. The law would also bar foreign nationals from helping to pay for the administration of state or local elections.

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ActBlue is fighting back against its conservative critics. The platform, for instance, sued Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is investigating it, on May 1, alleging that he is abusing his office by engaging in a politically motivated legal action against it.

The district judge handling the case recently wrote that "the court is tentatively of the opinion" that ActBlue will "likely to prevail on some, if not all, elements" of the first part of their legal complaint, which accuses Paxton of violating ActBlue's First Amendment rights by allegedly targeting it for engaging in constitutionally protected political activity.

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