Political committee means any group meeting one of the following conditions:

(a) Except as provided in 11 CFR 100.5 (b), (c) and (d), any committee, club, association, or other group of persons which receives contributions aggregating in excess of $1,000 or which makes expenditures aggregating in excess of $1,000 during a calendar year is a political committee.

(b) Any separate segregated fund established under 52 U.S.C. 30118(b)(2)(C) is a political committee.

(c) Any local committee of a political party is a political committee if: it receives contributions aggregating in excess of $5,000 during a calendar year; it makes payments exempted from the definition of contribution, under 11 CFR 100.80, 100.87, and 100.89 and expenditure, under 11 CFR 100.140, 100.147, and 100.149, which payments aggregate in excess of $5,000 during a calendar year; or it makes contributions aggregating in excess of $1,000 or makes expenditures aggregating in excess of $1,000 during a calendar year.

(d) An individual's principal campaign committee or authorized committee(s) becomes a political committee(s) when that individual becomes a candidate pursuant to 11 CFR 100.3.

(e) The following are examples of political committees:

(1) Principal campaign committee. Principal campaign committee means a political committee designated and authorized by a candidate pursuant to 11 CFR 101.1 and 102.1.

(2) Single candidate committee. Single candidate committee means a political committee other than a principal campaign committee which makes or receives contributions or makes expenditures on behalf of only one candidate.

(3) Multi-candidate committee. Multi-candidate committee means a political committee which—

(i) Has been registered with the Commission for at least 6 months;

(ii) Has received contributions for Federal elections from more than 50 persons; and

(iii) Except for any State political party organization, has made contributions to 5 or more Federal candidates.

(4) Party committee. Party committee means a political committee which represents a political party and is part of the official party structure at the national, State, or local level.

(5) Delegate committee. A delegate committee is a group of persons that receives contributions or makes expenditures for the sole purpose of influencing the selection of one or more delegates to a national nominating convention. The term delegate committee includes a group of delegates, a group of individuals seeking selection as delegates and a group of individuals supporting delegates. A delegate committee that qualifies as a political committee under 11 CFR 100.5 must register with the Commission pursuant to 11 CFR part 102 and report its receipts and disbursements in accordance with 11 CFR part 104. (See definition of delegate at 11 CFR 110.14(b)(1).)

(6) Leadership PAC. Leadership PAC means a political committee that is directly or indirectly established, financed, maintained or controlled by a candidate for Federal office or an individual holding Federal office but which is not an authorized committee of the candidate or individual and which is not affiliated with an authorized committee of the candidate or individual, except that leadership PAC does not include a political committee of a political party.

(7) Lobbyist/Registrant PAC. See 11 CFR 104.22(a)(3).

(f) A political committee is either an authorized committee or an unauthorized committee.

(1) Authorized committee. An authorized committee means the principal campaign committee or any other political committee authorized by a candidate under 11 CFR 102.13 to receive contributions or make expenditures on behalf of such candidate, or which has not been disavowed pursuant to 11 CFR 100.3(a)(3).

(2) Unauthorized committee. An unauthorized committee is a political committee which has not been authorized in writing by a candidate to solicit or receive contributions or make expenditures on behalf of such candidate, or which has been disavowed pursuant to 11 CFR 100.3(a)(3).

(g) Affiliated committee.

(1) All authorized committees of the same candidate for the same election to Federal office are affiliated.

(2) All committees (including a separate segregated fund, see 11 CFR part 114) established, financed, maintained or controlled by the same corporation, labor organization, person, or group of persons, including any parent, subsidiary, branch, division, department, or local unit thereof, are affiliated. Local unit may include, in appropriate cases, a franchisee, licensee, or State or regional association.

(3) Affiliated committees sharing a single contribution limitation under paragraph (g)(2) of this section include all of the committees established, financed, maintained or controlled by—

(i) A single corporation and/or its subsidiaries;

(ii) A single national or international union and/or its local unions or other subordinate organizations;

(iii) An organization of national or international unions and/or all its State and local central bodies;

(iv) A membership organization, (other than political party committees, see 11 CFR 110.3(b)) including trade or professional associations, see 11 CFR 114.8(a), and/or related State and local entities of that organization or group; or

(v) The same person or group of persons.

(4)

(i) The Commission may examine the relationship between organizations that sponsor committees, between the committees themselves, or between one sponsoring organization and a committee established by another organization to determine whether committees are affiliated.

(ii) In determining whether committees not described in paragraphs (g)(3) (i)-(iv) of this section are affiliated, the Commission will consider the circumstantial factors described in paragraphs (g)(4)(ii) (A) through (J) of this section. The Commission will examine these factors in the context of the overall relationship between committees or sponsoring organizations to determine whether the presence of any factor or factors is evidence of one committee or organization having been established, financed, maintained or controlled by another committee or sponsoring organization. Such factors include, but are not limited to:

(A) Whether a sponsoring organization owns controlling interest in the voting stock or securities of the sponsoring organization of another committee;

(B) Whether a sponsoring organization or committee has the authority or ability to direct or participate in the governance of another sponsoring organization or committee through provisions of constitutions, bylaws, contracts, or other rules, or through formal or informal practices or procedures;

(C) Whether a sponsoring organization or committee has the authority or ability to hire, appoint, demote or otherwise control the officers, or other decisionmaking employees or members of another sponsoring organization or committee;

(D) Whether a sponsoring organization or committee has a common or overlapping membership with another sponsoring organization or committee which indicates a formal or ongoing relationship between the sponsoring organizations or committees;

(E) Whether a sponsoring organization or committee has common or overlapping officers or employees with another sponsoring organization or committee which indicates a formal or ongoing relationship between the sponsoring organizations or committees;

(F) Whether a sponsoring organization or committee has any members, officers or employees who were members, officers or employees of another sponsoring organization or committee which indicates a formal or ongoing relationship between the sponsoring organizations or committees, or which indicates the creation of a successor entity;

(G) Whether a sponsoring organization or committee provides funds or goods in a significant amount or on an ongoing basis to another sponsoring organization or committee, such as through direct or indirect payments for administrative, fundraising, or other costs, but not including the transfer to a committee of its allocated share of proceeds jointly raised pursuant to 11 CFR 102.17;

(H) Whether a sponsoring organization or committee causes or arranges for funds in a significant amount or on an ongoing basis to be provided to another sponsoring organization or committee, but not including the transfer to a committee of its allocated share of proceeds jointly raised pursuant to 11 CFR 102.17;

(I) Whether a sponsoring organization or committee or its agent had an active or significant role in the formation of another sponsoring organization or committee; and

(J) Whether the sponsoring organizations or committees have similar patterns of contributions or contributors which indicates a formal or ongoing relationship between the sponsoring organizations or committees.

(5) Notwithstanding paragraphs (g)(2) through (g)(4) of this section, no authorized committee shall be deemed affiliated with any entity that is not an authorized committee.

[45 FR 15094, Mar. 7, 1980, as amended at 45 FR 34867, May 23, 1980; 52 FR 35534, Sept. 22, 1987; 54 FR 34109, Aug. 17, 1989; 54 FR 48580, Nov. 24, 1989; 61 FR 3549, Feb. 1, 1996; 67 FR 78679, Dec. 26, 2002; 68 FR 67018, Dec. 1, 2003; 74 FR 7302, Feb. 17, 2009; 79 FR 77844, Dec. 29, 2014; 84 FR 18698, May 2, 2019]