Super PACs are a relatively new type of committee that arose following the July 2010 federal court decision in a case known as SpeechNow.org v. Federal Election Commission.
Super PACs • OpenSecrets Donate We follow the money. You make it possible. $35 $50 $100 Other Donate Today × Skip to Navigation Skip to Main Content Skip to Footer OpenSecrets Announces Next Executive Director, Hilary Braseth Read the press release › Open Secrets following the money in politics Menu Act Now Donate Candidates & Officeholders Candidates & Officeholders Overview Members of Congress Congressional Committees Presidential Administrations Personal Finances Get Local! Elections & Fundraising Data Elections Overview Presidential Elections Congressional Elections Joint Fundraising Committees Political Parties Ballot Measures Fundraising by Gender and Race Expenditures Outside Spending Donor Lookup Industries & Interest Groups Political Ads Dark Money Industries Organizations 527s PACs Issue Profiles Lobbying Lobbying Overview Foreign Lobby Watch Revolving Door About News and Reports Research Tools Search Go Close Donate Email Home PACs Super PACs Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Sections Summary Top PACs Top Recipients of PAC Money Industry Breakdown Leadership PACs Super PACs Foreign-connected PACs What is a PAC? Super PACs are a relatively new type of committee that arose following the July 2010 federal court decision in a case known as SpeechNow.org v. Federal Election Commission. Technically known as independent expenditure-only committees, super PACs may raise unlimited sums of money from corporations, unions, associations and individuals, then spend unlimited sums to overtly advocate for or against political candidates. Unlike traditional PACs, super PACs are prohibited from donating money directly to political candidates, and their spending must not be coordinated with that of the candidates they benefit. Super PACs are required to report their donors to the Federal Election Commission on a monthly or semiannual basis — the super PAC's choice — in off-years, and monthly in the year of an election. As of January 04, 2024, 1,799 groups organized as super PACs have reported total receipts of $421,509,740 and total independent expenditures of $154,251,600 in the 2023-2024 cycle. See the details for these super PACs in our Outside Spending section. Feel free to distribute or cite this material, but please credit OpenSecrets. For permission to reprint for commercial uses, such as textbooks, contact OpenSecrets: [email protected] We follow the money. You make it possible. $35 $50 $100 Other Donate Today Count Cash & Make Change Sign up for our newsletter to track money’s influence on U.S. elections and public policy. Please enter a valid email address Do not fill this out if you are a person Sign Up OpenSecrets Following the money in politics A 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, charitable organization 1100 13th Street, NW, Suite 800 Washington, DC 20005 (202) 857-0044 [email protected] Privacy Policy Take Action Donate Buy Custom Data Created with Fabric.js 5.2.4 Follow us on X Follow us on Facebook Follow us on Instagram Follow us on Threads Except for the Revolving Door section, content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License by OpenSecrets.org. To request permission for commercial use, please contact us.