Political action committee definition

A political action committee, or PAC, is a group that raises and spends money to support or oppose candidates for federal office. A PAC must register with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) within 10 days after its contributions or spending exceed $1,000 in a calendar year.

The FEC counted 8,816 federal PACs in reports covering January 1, 2025 through March 31, 2026. Those PACs raised $6.3 billion, spent $4.8 billion, and gave $274.5 million to federal candidates.

How do political action committees work?

Every political action committee is either a separate segregated fund or a nonconnected committee. The difference is who they can ask for money.

• Separate segregated funds are established and administered by corporations, labor unions, membership organizations, or trade associations. They can solicit contributions only from individuals associated with the sponsoring organization.
• Nonconnected committees have no sponsoring organization, so they can solicit contributions from the general public.

PACs file regular reports with the FEC disclosing what they raise and spend.

What are the contribution limits for PACs?

A PAC that has qualified as a multicandidate committee can give a federal candidate $5,000 per election. A PAC that has not qualified can give $3,500 per election in the 2025-2026 cycle, and that limit is adjusted for inflation in odd-numbered years.

To qualify as a multicandidate committee, a PAC must be registered with the FEC for at least six months, receive contributions from at least 51 people, and contribute to at least five federal candidates.

Money going into a PAC is capped too. Individuals, party committees, other PACs, and candidates' own campaign committees can each give a PAC $5,000 per year. That is an annual cap, not a per-election one.

Corporations and labor unions cannot contribute to a PAC from their general treasury funds. They can instead establish a separate segregated fund.

What is the difference between a PAC and a super PAC?

Super PACs are one type of nonconnected committee. The FEC calls them independent expenditure-only political committees, and they can accept unlimited contributions from individuals, corporations, labor unions, and other PACs. Unlike other PACs, they cannot give money to candidates.

Super PACs pay for independent expenditures instead. An independent expenditure is a communication that urges the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate. It cannot be made in cooperation with that candidate or with a political party.

The FEC counted 2,236 super PACs through March 31, 2026.