It’s no secret that the Republican National Committee is in dire financial straits. But what’s less known is just how bad that situation really is.
On the surface, the RNC currently has more than $11 million on hand for this upcoming election cycle. While that’s less than half of what the Democratic National Committee has in the bank at the moment—and far less than the $77 million the RNC had on hand at this point in the 2020 cycle—the RNC has pointed to fundraising numbers in recent months to suggest the party has turned a corner after a historically bad stretch last year.
However, a close examination of the RNC’s recent financial statements reveals that those numbers are hiding some holes. A lot of the RNC’s recent fundraising—millions of dollars of it—is unusable for political spending. Instead, that money can only support a limited range of activities.
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(As luck would have it, much of that money can be spent on Donald Trump’s legal bills, potentially even to help pay down the judgments against him.)
An analysis of the RNC’s various bank accounts indicates that the national party’s financial status, which the GOP has been desperately trying to paint in a positive light, is even worse than it already seemed.
In response to questions from The Daily Beast, the RNC provided statements from a spokesperson and the organization’s new chair, former North Carolina GOP chairman Michael Whatley.
“The Trump campaign and RNC will raise the money, deploy the necessary assets, and win because President Trump will secure the border, make American families more prosperous, and make our nation respected on the world stage,” the spokesperson’s statement said.
“Republicans will fight in every state to turn out the vote and will utilize every legal process to get voters to the polls and chase ballots across the country,” Whatley said in his statement. “We will take advantage of mail voting while fighting in court to make the practice more secure as we work to re-elect President Donald J. Trump in November.”
While neither statement directly addressed the fundraising disparities, an RNC representative noted that the party had used a great deal of its segregated funds this cycle to mount more than 40 election lawsuits around the country. Those efforts, the person acknowledged, require a sustained financial commitment. But at this point it’s unclear whether the RNC can keep up the pace without sacrificing other political priorities.
National parties like the RNC and DNC don’t just have one bank account; they also maintain segregated funds for specially designated expenses—conventions, buildings and maintenance, and legal or recount expenses—which can also be funded by donors. Those accounts, sometimes called “Cromnibus” accounts, are subject to a separate set of rules, and while many of those regulations are still not set in stone, one of them is crystal clear: That money cannot be spent on political activity.
The Daily Beast’s analysis of Federal Election Commission filings found that, of the roughly $22.3 million that the RNC has reported raising this year, more than $8 million of it—about 36 percent—cannot be used for political expenses. (At this same point in 2020, the money in the RNC’s Cromnibus accounts accounted for less than 10 percent—$7.5 million—of the total $77 million cash on hand.)
That means that one of every three dollars the RNC has raised this year went into its auxiliary accounts, with the “legal” account alone receiving more than $4 million. By way of comparison, the DNC has reported about $34 million in receipts this year, with roughly $4 million of it—less than 12 percent—directed into its segregated Cromnibus accounts.
The pattern holds true over the last year. Between the beginning of 2023 and the end of February, the DNC raised a total $154 million, with $22.4 million of it in the segregated accounts, FEC filings show. Over the same period, the RNC received less money overall—$109.5 million—with more of it going to its non-political accounts, $24.7 million. (A portion of the segregated account totals reflect outside earnings—such as through interest and dividends—but those amounts are comparatively minimal.)
The upshot is that while the DNC’s cash advantage has allowed the party to build up its main stash to fuel political activities, the RNC’s financial strains could continue to multiply in unexpected ways as the 2024 election approaches.
While it’s typical for national parties to raise heavily for their segregated accounts throughout election cycles—taking advantage of the higher contribution limits—federal reporting guidelines make it difficult for the public to see how much money is in those funds versus the party’s general political account. That distinction is especially significant for the RNC this year.
The party is navigating a cash crunch brought on by a combination of poor fundraising and heavy spending, while facing the prospect of devoting major resources to help shore up down-ballot candidates, financially troubled state parties, and its presidential nominee, Trump—who himself faces a fundraising crisis after siphoning tens of millions of dollars from supporters to fund his snowballing personal legal bills.
This pinch seems particularly tight when it comes to the RNC’s “legal” account. The party has already committed to an aggressive so-called “election integrity” effort, which will be helmed by Trump’s election-denying attorney Christina Bobb. That project involves recruiting poll-watchers and preparing an army of “thousands of lawyers to challenge ballots and bring lawsuits,” The Washington Post reported last week.
Those legal efforts—a concession to Trump’s demands—seem almost certain to go off the rails, according to a person with knowledge of the RNC’s plans, especially after the ouster of longtime RNC chair Ronna McDaniel.
“They’re going to get a lot more aggressive in their kooky lawsuits, like the one filed in Nevada on the crazy theory that counties have more registered voters than there should be,” the person said. (An election official in one of those counties is under indictment for his involvement in Trump’s fake elector scheme in 2020.)
“Under Ronna, that spending was far more strategic,” the source said, pointing to successful legal interventions in Georgia, New York City, and Arizona, where the RNC won a monumental voting rights case that went all the way to the Supreme Court.
“But the election challenges could destroy the RNC financially,” the source continued, “especially if the adults in the room lose control and you see a bunch of frivolous lawsuits, with penalties and sanctions. And [new RNC chair Michael] Whatley, who’s pigeonholed himself as the election integrity guy, he’ll be blamed.”
Financial filings show that the RNC is bulking up those legal funds at the expense of its political operation.
In January, the RNC touted a $12 million haul—an amount that Fox News characterized as showing that the committee was “coming quickly out of the gate” for the 2024 election year. FEC filings show that the overall total was really about $11.6 million, with around $5.3 million of that amount going to the segregated accounts—including nearly $3.2 million to the RNC’s “legal” fund.
Most of that $3.2 million came from one source. On Jan. 5, after weeks of bad fundraising headlines, the National Republican Congressional Committee—the official political arm of the House GOP—transferred a flat $2 million to the RNC’s legal account, in support of the RNC’s “Election Integrity Project.” The other $1.2 million came from a handful of GOP megadonors.
That happened again in February, with the RNC reporting a total $10.7 million raised, with $7.8 million going into its general account. The remaining $2.8 million was earmarked by megadonors for the other accounts, about half of it—$1.2 million—routed to the legal fund.
By comparison, the comparatively flush DNC has raised a slim amount to its Cromnibus coffers, stuffing most of its money into its general account. The segregated accounts will see more surges in donations from the DNC’s joint fundraising machine, but it appears that, at least right now, the DNC hasn’t been sweating the bottom line.
That level of comfort seemed apparent last month, when the DNC hauled in $16.6 million, raising only about $214,000 for its other three accounts, FEC records show. This means that, while the DNC already has a significant leg-up in the cash-on-hand department, the lead is even larger when it comes to the funds that can be used for the actual political campaign.
This disparity could compound as costs increase over time, potentially setting up a cash crisis at the wire for the RNC. And while the national party has pledged not to pay Trump’s personal legal bills, their new joint fundraising agreement prioritizes his Save America leadership PAC, where the majority of disbursements go towards Trump’s stable of attorneys.
But it’s not just the legal fund—the RNC and DNC have also raised millions of dollars for two other segregated accounts, and will continue to do so throughout the year. Those other funds are the “convention” account—which the RNC will draw from to put on the Republican National Convention this July in Milwaukee, Wisconsin—along with what’s known as the “building” or “headquarters” fund, which covers costs associated with physical locations, like rent, purchases, and maintenance.
There’s a side benefit to fundraising for these accounts—higher annual contribution limits. The limit on a segregated account is three times higher than the general fund, allowing one person to cut a $123,900 check to each of those three extra accounts. The RNC collected a number of these maximum contributions from megadonors in both January and February, while the DNC kept that powder dry—and still outraised the Republican Party.
But the FEC has issued only limited guidance on how national parties report this activity, making it difficult for the public, candidates, and outside observers to get a clear sense of how that money is raised and spent.
For instance, while the DNC shows how much it has raised for its segregated funds overall, it’s often hard to tell how much went into each of those accounts specifically—a lot of those DNC receipts lack the line-item transparency that the RNC provides in its reports.
Brendan Fischer, deputy executive director of watchdog group Documented, told The Daily Beast that it’s “nearly impossible” to get a full and clear picture of how those accounts are operating.
“What you would expect to see is a clear breakdown of how much each account has raised and spent, the same way that every other political committee reports those numbers. But the FEC’s guidance is so minimal and the reporting practices so inconsistent that it is nearly impossible for the public to track the millions of dollars flowing into and out of these accounts,” Fischer said.
Shanna Ports, senior counsel for campaign finance at nonprofit Campaign Legal Center, echoed Fischer’s frustration.
“You have to spend so much time spotting the connections, and when you do you can’t even tell what’s happening,” Ports told The Daily Beast.
That might change this year. Ports’ group, CLC, sued the FEC to force a rulemaking for these accounts, a move that the agency appears to be taking up after years of resistance. But judging by the comments the FEC has received so far, neither party is exactly clamoring for transparency.
“That’s the crux of our lawsuit, to force the FEC to take action and address the realities of reporting and provide insight into how committees are using these segregated accounts,” Ports said. “It would be very helpful if the FEC promulgated these changes so someone can look at a report and tell how much money is available for political expenses and how much is held elsewhere. Members of the public, candidates, academics, journalists—they’d all benefit from that.”
