Hackers Strike At Heart Of Campaign Finance System Days Before Midterms

Hackers tried to breach the Federal Election Commission’s systems just one week before the midterm elections, forcing the agency to shut down electronic filing services and disrupting the public’s ability to track new campaign spending disclosures during the final stretch of election season.

The attempted intrusion prompted FEC cybersecurity staff to take affected systems offline late Monday, according to an email reviewed by Reuters. The agency’s filing platform remained unavailable Wednesday morning, even after officials said they had identified the problem and were implementing a fix.

The FEC has not disclosed who was behind the attempted intrusion, whether anyone successfully accessed its systems, or whether any data was compromised.

The timing is particularly concerning as campaigns and outside political groups pour money into competitive congressional races ahead of Election Day on November 3. The outage has interrupted an important source of information for voters, journalists, and watchdog groups trying to follow the money behind federal campaigns.

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An FEC electronic filings official warned campaign compliance firms that a “bad actor” was attempting to breach the agency’s systems, according to Reuters. The official said the agency had temporarily shut down public-facing services in response.

A person familiar with the situation told Politico that FEC cybersecurity staff detected attempted intrusions early and shut down the affected parts of the filing system. The person described the incident as “quite narrow and compartmentalized” and said investigators did not yet know who was responsible.

The FEC said its information technology staff were working to restore service. Deputy Press Secretary Myles Martin told Politico that the agency’s public website search for previously filed campaign finance reports remained available.

The outage prevents political campaigns and committees from electronically submitting certain required reports on contributions and spending, including filings that ordinarily provide near-real-time insight into election activity.

During the final weeks before an election, federal candidates must report certain contributions or loans of $1,000 or more within 48 hours. Political committees must report qualifying independent expenditures within 24 hours. 

The disruption comes amid an exceptionally expensive election cycle. AdImpact estimated that spending on political advertising and future reservations had reached approximately $11.21 billion, surpassing the record set during the 2024 elections.

Outside groups have been spending at a particularly rapid pace in the final days of the campaign. OpenSecrets research director Brendan Glavin told Reuters that super PACs and “dark-money” groups had averaged more than $50 million in daily spending over the preceding week, with more than $250 million reported on October 20 alone.

“It’s a big deal,” Glavin said of the outage, explaining that the filing system is a key way to track election spending as Election Day approaches.

The FEC’s electronic filing disruption means some new disclosures may not become publicly available on their normal schedule. Previously submitted reports remain searchable, but the interruption limits the public’s ability to follow newly reported spending as it occurs.

The FEC said in an automated email to filers that campaigns would not be fined for missed submissions provided they filed within 24 hours after the electronic filing system returned to service.

The incident has also drawn attention to the condition of the agency responsible for enforcing federal campaign finance law.

The six-member FEC has lacked the four commissioners needed to take official action since May 2025. It has operated with only two commissioners since October 2025, following commissioner departures and President Donald Trump’s removal of Democratic Chair Ellen Weintraub.

Career staff have continued the agency’s routine work, including processing campaign finance disclosures. But the commission’s lack of a quorum has left it unable to conduct many formal actions requiring a vote.

The FEC regulates campaign fundraising and spending in federal elections; it does not administer elections, maintain state voter registration databases, or count ballots. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the FBI had not publicly provided details about the incident in reports published Tuesday.

The source of the attempted intrusion remains unknown. The person familiar with the incident told Politico that advanced artificial intelligence models with hacking capabilities could have been involved, but no public evidence has established that AI was used or identified any responsible individual or group.