ZOMBIE Act would require politicians close campaign accounts post-election, so they couldn’t use leftover money to buy influence
Zombies want brains. The ZOMBIE Act deals with zombies who want influence.
Context
Politicians running for federal office maintain official campaign accounts and sometimes also leadership PACs, which can be used to fund additional expenses prohibited by campaign accounts themselves. (Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s leadership PAC is called PAC to the Future. Seriously.)
The problem is after a politician leaves office, regardless of whether they don’t seek reelection, they seek reelection but lose, or they resign. These affiliated organizations can then be continued for years, nicknamed “zombie accounts,” with the leftover money still eligible to be used. Sometimes the politicians become lobbyists and use that leftover money to buy influence with their former colleagues.
This is a bipartisan issue. The nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center issued a report calling out former members of Congress from both parties who have engaged in this behavior, including Democrats like former Reps. Bud Cramer (D-AL5) and Jim Moran (D-VA8), and Republicans like former Reps. Buck McKeon (R-CA25) and Jeff Miller (R-FL1).
What the bill does
The ZOMBIE (Zeroing Out Money for Buying Influence after Elections) Act would require a politician to close their campaign accounts and leadership PAC (if they have one) within six months of leaving office, unless they file to run for office again during that period.
And if they officially register as a lobbyist, they would have to close those accounts immediately — no six-month grace period.
Where would the leftover money go? The bill would provide three options: either be refunded back to the original donors, given to the U.S. Treasury (which basically means given to “the government”), or donated to a charity — so long as the former officeholder or any members of the family don’t work for the charity.
The bill was introduced in the Senate on November 4 as S. 3165, by Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO).
What supporters say
Supporters argue that zombie accounts are indicative of the corruption and “revolving door” that characterize so much of the federal government, or at least the perception of it.
“It makes no sense for former politicians to have millions in the bank from their old campaigns, especially after they’ve registered to become a lobbyist or foreign agent,” Sen. Bennet said in a press release. “These zombie accounts help fuel the pay-to-play culture in Washington that is destroying the American people’s faith in our government. My bill would zero out these accounts for good.”
What opponents say
Opponents may counter that six months is far too short a time period for a former officeholder to decide whether to seek office again.
For example, former President Donald Trump still maintains a zombie account for his presidential campaign, which raised $62 million in the first half of 2021. But under this bill, Trump would have to decide whether to run for president again within six months of leaving office — in other words, by July 2021, even though his actual decision will likely come in 2023.
Opponents may also counter that forcing such zombie accounts to close so quickly inadvertently creates another problem: how would they pay down any outstanding debts?
For example, Newt Gingrich’s failed campaign for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination ended with a roughly $4.6 million debt. Although it’s maintained a zombie account for the subsequent nine years, the account has only raised about $600,000 since.
Odds of passage
The bill has attracted one other cosponsor, a Democrat: Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). It awaits a potential vote in the Senate Rules and Administration Committee.
Sen. Bennet introduced this bill in the prior Congress, but in December 2020 with mere weeks remaining. That version also attracted one Democratic cosponsor (Warren) and never received a committee vote in the then-Republican controlled chamber.
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This article was written by GovTrack Insider staff writer Jesse Rifkin.
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