United States 119th Congress Status: In Committee 1 R cosponsors

S 538 — Eliminating Leftover Expenses for Campaigns from Taxpayers (ELECT) Act of 2025

Last action — Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. 2
    In Committee
  3. 3
    Passed Senate
  4. 4
    Passed House
  5. 5
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill is in committee in the Senate. Introduced February 12, 2025. It must pass committee before a floor vote.

Next likely step: a committee vote, then a floor vote in the Senate.

Prognosis

Stalled 16% · moderate confidence

  • In Committee

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 1 sponsor

    1 primary, 0 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Single-party support

    Sponsorship is currently within one party (1 R).

Based on stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes, and cross-state momentum — a description of the observable signals, not a prediction.

Summary

Eliminating Leftover Expenses for Campaigns from Taxpayers (ELECT) Act of 2025This bill terminates (1) the taxpayer election (on the federal income tax form) to designate $3 of income tax liability to be paid to the Presidential Election Campaign Fund (which would otherwise go into the general fund of the Treasury) for financing of presidential election campaigns, (2) the Presidential Election Campaign Fund, and (3) the Presidential Primary Matching Payment Account. The bill also requires funds remaining in the Presidential Election Campaign Fund to be transferred to the general fund of the Treasury for the sole purpose of reducing the deficit.

Bill Text

How this bill changes current law

6 changes Share ↗

AI-generated reading aid from the bill's amendatory text — verify against the official bill.

The bill eliminates taxpayer financing for presidential election campaigns and transfers remaining funds to the general fund of the Treasury.

  • Section 6096

    This section shall not apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2024.

    This change stops the designation of income tax payments for presidential election campaign funding for years after 2024.

  • Chapter 95 of subtitle H of the Internal Revenue Code

    The provisions of this chapter shall not apply with respect to any Presidential election (or any Presidential nominating convention) after the date of the enactment of this section, or to any candidate in such an election.

    This addition terminates the presidential election campaign fund and its applicability to future elections.

  • Section 9006

    The Secretary shall transfer the amounts in the fund as of the date of the enactment of this subsection to the general fund of the Treasury, to be used only for reducing the deficit.

    This mandates the transfer of remaining funds from the presidential election campaign fund to the Treasury for deficit reduction.

  • Chapter 96 of subtitle H of the Internal Revenue Code

    The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to any candidate with respect to any Presidential election after the date of the enactment of this section.

    This addition terminates the applicability of funds related to presidential candidates for future elections.

  • Table of sections for chapter 95

    Sec. 9013. Termination.

    This adds a new section to the table of sections indicating the termination of the presidential election fund.

  • Table of sections for chapter 96

    Sec. 9043. Termination.

    This adds a new section to the table of sections indicating the termination of candidate funding related to presidential elections.

Action History

  1. Introduced in Senate

  2. Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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1 sponsors · 0 co-sponsors · 546 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (0)

None.

Not signed on (546)

546 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 546 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Subjects

taxation elections
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does S 538 do?
Eliminating Leftover Expenses for Campaigns from Taxpayers (ELECT) Act of 2025This bill terminates (1) the taxpayer election (on the federal income tax form) to designate $3 of income tax liability to be paid to the Presidential Election Campaign Fund (which would otherwise go into the general fund of the Treasury) for financing of presidential election campaigns, (2) the Presidential Election Campaign Fund, and (3) the Presidential Primary Matching Payment Account. The bill also requires funds remaining in the Presidential Election Campaign Fund to be transferred to the general fund of the Treasury for the sole purpose of reducing the deficit.
Who sponsors S 538?
S 538 is sponsored by Ernst, Joni (Republican).
What is the current status of S 538?
This bill is in committee in the Senate. Introduced February 12, 2025. It must pass committee before a floor vote.
Where can I track S 538?
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