To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to apply the ban on contributions and expenditures by foreign nationals under such Act to foreign-controlled, foreign-influenced, and foreign-owned domestic business entities, and for other purposes.
Key claim: HR9874 would amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to apply the ban on contributions and expenditures by foreign nationals to foreign-controlled, foreign-influenced, and foreign-owned domestic business entities.
Abstract
(HR9874 · 119th Congress) Latest action (2026-07-22): Referred to the House Committee on House Administration.
Why this matters
Existing FECA prohibitions bar foreign nationals from contributing to or spending on U.S. elections, but domestic subsidiaries and business entities with foreign ownership or control have operated in a contested gray zone — particularly around independent expenditures, ballot measures, and corporate political spending post-Citizens United. By extending the ban to foreign-controlled, foreign-influenced, and foreign-owned domestic business entities, HR9874 would tighten who counts as a ‘foreign national’ for campaign-finance purposes, with practical effects on multinational corporations, sovereign-wealth-linked investors, and the disclosure obligations of entities receiving foreign capital. The proposal is contested on both effectiveness (how ‘influence’ is measured) and First Amendment grounds, and its status as introduced legislation places it within a broader 119th Congress cluster of foreign-influence bills.