With both chambers of Congress in the midst of August recess, and candidates crisscrossing their home states, midterm season is officially in full swing. This season brings massive spending by candidates and political committees, as well as nonprofits spending hundreds of millions of dollars to influence the outcomes of political and policy fights. As Americans prepare to cast their ballots this November, the public should have confidence that the organizations shaping public opinion, engaging in voter activities, and running ads to inform voters are influenced solely by American interests. That’s not the case.
Foreign nationals, charities, and governments with anti-American agendas are spending billions of dollars to influence our politics, policies, and institutions.
That’s not a typo — billions with a “b” — and most Americans have no idea. That’s why the organization I lead, Americans for Public Trust, just launched a first-of-its-kind database: Follow Foreign Money. This searchable tool compiles over 12,000 records tracking more than $5 billion in grants from foreign sources to U.S.-based nonprofits, many of which are household names to those familiar with the American political ecosystem.
Organizations that sound innocuous, and at times even virtuous, are quietly using foreign money to move the needle toward their preferred political outcomes. Groups flush with foreign cash bankroll issue and policy advocacy, protests, voter registration, state ballot initiatives, lobbying, newsrooms, universities, think tanks, and more.
And nearly 100% of these organizations push Left-wing causes.
Some even have disturbing ties to the Chinese Communist Party. Take, for example, the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, a U.K.-based nonprofit chaired by British billionaire Christopher Hohn that is also a registered NGO in China, with its in-country work overseen by various CCP ministries. For over a decade, this organization has funneled more than half a billion dollars into anti-American agendas: from attempts to stifle American energy with CCP-aligned groups, funding climate litigation, protests, and more.
Unsurprisingly, the organization’s CEO Kate Hampton has concerning personal ties to the communist government, receiving a “Friendship Award” from a CCP official and working with the CCP’s “Belt and Road International Green Development Coalition.”
Indivisible, a radical D.C.-based nonprofit established to sow chaos at congressional town halls, now leads nationwide protests while boasting plans to build its “strongest election protection program ever” in the 2026 midterm cycle. A search of “Indivisible” in our database reveals $7.5 million in grants from Berger Action Fund, which “[steers] the wealth of Hansjörg Wyss, a Swiss billionaire, into the world of American politics and policy.”
Consider also the major organizations pushing the Left’s radical green agenda, including ClimateWorks, Nature Conservancy, Energy Foundation China, Environmental Defense Fund, Natural Resources Defense Council, and League of Conservation Voters. Combined, these groups have accepted more than $1 billion in grants from foreign sources. And they’re putting that money to work this cycle, registering voters, suing the Trump administration, and engaging in climate activism.
Our database catalogs nearly $19 million total in foreign money to the well-known American Civil Liberties Union and its sister foundation. This election cycle, ACLU Foundation has already funneled millions of dollars into two ballot issue campaigns in Missouri, in apparent violation of the state’s ban on direct and indirect foreign funding of ballot issue campaigns. My organization has filed complaints with the Missouri Attorney General and looks forward to any accountability under their newly enacted law.
While federal law prohibits foreign entities from contributing to political campaigns and Super PACs, there are practically zero restrictions on foreign funding for policy advocacy and election-related activities. This major loophole means foreign influence is shaping our midterm elections via foreign-funded nonprofits.
This is an immediate and quantifiable threat to our democracy that must be exposed and stopped. The good news is that some state and federal officials are taking steps to address the problem.
Our state legislative tracker shows the growing movement to confront foreign funding in ballot measure campaigns, with 11 states passing laws banning it in the last two years, including Iowa and Nebraska just this year.
In Congress, much of the progress has been led by the House Administration and Ways and Means Committees, which are investigating and advancing legislation to stop the flow of foreign money into our politics. Recently, the U.S. House passed the “Stop Foreign Funds in Elections Act.” The bill builds on the progress at the state level by taking federal action to ban foreign money in state and local ballot measures. The Senate must pass the bill without delay.
Until lawmakers close these foreign influence loopholes, our system remains exposed. Voters should call their Senators and Representatives to demand they pass legislation to close all foreign influence loopholes.
We’ve revealed the depth of the problem. It’s long past time for our lawmakers to do something about it.
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Caitlin Sutherland is the Executive Director of Americans for Public Trust.