Hackers Disrupt US Campaign Finance Disclosures Days Before Midterms

Hackers targeting the U.S. Federal Election Commission disrupted campaign spending disclosure a week before the November 3 midterms, forcing the agency to suspend its electronic filing system.

The shutdown prevents political organizations from submitting mandatory 24-hour and 48-hour reports detailing spending on individual races.

It comes as super PACs and dark money groups commit tens of millions of dollars a day to the closing stages of the campaign.

An email seen by Reuters linked the suspension to an attempted intrusion.

“We have a bad actor attempting to breach FEC systems. As a result, we’ve had to temporarily shut down our web-facing services,” an FEC electronic filings officer told several campaign compliance firms on Monday night.

Disclosure System Offline

The agency’s status page listed the outage as starting around 10 p.m. ET on Monday, after campaign finance officers had trouble submitting required reports.

An update posted around 8 p.m. ET on Tuesday said the problem had been identified and corrective work was underway. The website still showed electronic filing as unavailable.

The FEC said its technology staff was working to restore access. Previously submitted reports remained searchable.

The agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Both the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency directed inquiries to the FEC.

The commission monitors campaign finances and has no responsibility for conducting elections. The disruption is not expected to affect voters’ ability to cast ballots.

Spending Visibility Interrupted

The immediate consequence is a gap in timely disclosure during the campaign’s most expensive stretch.

“I've never seen this in 26 years,” said Steven Mele, president and CEO of political finance compliance firm MBA Consulting Group.

Super PACs and dark money groups spent more than $50 million a day on average over the preceding week, according to Brendan Glavin, research director at campaign finance watchdog OpenSecrets.

Spending reported on October 20 alone exceeded $250 million.

“These are the key reports that tell us what is happening,” Glavin said.

Record Advertising Expenditure

Political advertising spending and future reservations have reached roughly $11.21 billion, according to tracker AdImpact.

That exceeds the $11.2 billion recorded across all races in 2024, including $3.2 billion for the presidential contest between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.

Super PACs are driving much of the expenditure. They can raise unlimited contributions from wealthy individuals and corporations and spend on campaigns with few restrictions.

With Democrats gaining ground in several Republican strongholds, the midterms will determine whether Trump’s party retains its congressional majorities for the next two years.