President Trump has called the $400 million super PAC run by his political advisers “my money that I control.” A campaign watchdog group this week filed a formal complaint with the Federal Election Commission claiming that such an arrangement is illegal.
Federal law bars those holding federal office from directing spending decisions for a political organization with no contribution limits.
Yet Mr. Trump has made clear repeatedly that he maintains “control” over MAGA Inc., a $400 million super PAC for which he has been raising money since he won re-election in 2024.
Federal candidates and officials are allowed to solicit and direct campaign contributions only on behalf of political committees that are subject to strict limits, though the sums have grown in recent years. Super PACs are subject to less stringent rules, and have permission to raise and spend so-called soft money without limits.
Regardless of those rules, Mr. Trump is unlikely to be reined in, largely because the F.E.C., which regulates campaign finance, doesn’t even have enough confirmed members to meet, let alone consider complaints.
The complaint, from the Campaign Legal Center, points to Mr. Trump’s own public comments, including in the Oval Office this month, claiming control over the super PAC’s funds.
“I’m going to spend whatever amount of money necessary to try to help us. And this is money from MAGA Inc,” Mr. Trump said in the Oval Office earlier this month. “This is my money that I control.”
At another point, in an interview with Punchbowl News, Mr. Trump was asked about plans for “MAGA Inc., the super PAC that you, your allies control.”
Mr. Trump jumped in. “Not my allies,” Mr. Trump said. “I control it.”
Saurav Ghosh, director of federal campaign finance reform at the Campaign Legal Center, called Mr. Trump’s stated arrangement a “clear violation” of the law.
“As is often the case with Donald Trump, he says the quiet part very loudly,” said Mr. Ghosh, who signed the complaint, which was filed this week. “This is a clear line he has transgressed.”
Alex Pfeiffer, a spokesman for MAGA Inc., dismissed the complaint as “frivolous” and said the Campaign Legal Center “smears the Trump administration.”
“MAGA Inc. fully complies with the law,” Mr. Pfeiffer said.
Mr. Trump has not shied away from claiming a dominant role overseeing the super PAC.
In remarks in the Oval Office on Sept. 4, he described his process for making spending decisions for the group.
“How do I make it? I sit down and I say, ‘Let’s do this, let’s do that,’” Mr. Trump said. “I’m going to be making contributions to various campaigns of people that I think are good.”
MAGA Inc. has so far reported spending $10 million on the Texas Senate race. As of Thursday, two other super PACs linked to MAGA Inc. and overseen by Mr. Trump’s political operation have reserved another nearly $140 million.
Federal law says that federal officeholders shall not “solicit, receive, direct, transfer, or spend funds” from soft-money groups.
“That is absolutely something a sitting president — any federal officeholder — can’t do even in the era of super PACs and how normal it is to have these multi-million-dollar contributions,” Mr. Ghosh said in an interview.
Still, Mr. Ghosh said he did not expect any quick action from the F.E.C. The agency’s six-member governing board has only two confirmed commissioners — not enough to hold a formal meeting.
“The best-case scenario, when the F.E.C. is functional again: They will look at this as one of those lines that should not and cannot be crossed,” he said.
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