Senate Democrats Seek Hard Cap on Politicking by Nonprofits

A dozen senators called Thursday for a “bright-line rule” on electioneering by nonprofit “social welfare” groups, urging top Treasury officials to limit campaign activity to 5 to 15 percent of such organizations’ work, The Washington Post reports.

Eleven Democrats and an independent said they will sign a letter to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew and Internal Revenue Service Commissioner John Koskinen urging a clear cap on politicking by 501(c)(4) groups, which have become major conduits for campaign cash from undisclosed sources.

Current IRS rules state such organizations must be “exclusively” devoted to promoting social welfare, but Treasury regulations say they only need be “primarily engaged” in such work. The Democrats’ letter says allowing some political engagement is “reasonable as long as such intervention is a small portion of each organization’s total activities.”

The proposal comes amid debate over planned IRS rules that would more specifically define impermissible politicking by nonprofit groups, with both liberal and conservative groups voicing opposition. The tax agency received an unprecedented 122,000 comments on the new rules during a period of public comment that ended Thursday, the Post also reports.