New Ethics Bill Caps Presidential Library Donations at $10,000 and Bans Lobbyist Money During and After Term

If you’ve ever wondered how Presidential Libraries—those massive, often beautiful monuments to a former President—get built, the answer is usually through massive private donations. This new bill tackles that process head-on, aiming to scrub away the appearance of influence-peddling by severely restricting who can donate, how much they can donate, and when.

This legislation overhauls the rules for funding Presidential Libraries and Centers by adding strict requirements to Title 44 of the U.S. Code. The core idea is simple: limit the ability of people seeking favors from the government to funnel huge sums of money to the President’s legacy project while that President is still in office or recently out of it. It does this primarily through donor bans, a hard cap on individual giving, and unprecedented transparency requirements.

The Ban List: Who Can’t Write a Check?

Currently, there are few restrictions on who can donate to these libraries, leading to concerns that large, anonymous checks might buy access or influence. This bill changes that by creating a “restricted group” of donors who are completely banned from contributing funds while the President is in office or has just been elected. This ban applies to:

• Registered Lobbyists
• Federal Contractors
• Foreign Nationals (and registered agents of foreign principals)
• Anyone seeking or having received a pardon from that President

Think of it as a mandatory ethical firewall. If you’re a company trying to land a $50 million government contract (a Federal Contractor), you can’t also drop a million dollars into the President’s library fund. The ban doesn't just apply to the President's time in the Oval Office, either. There's a two-year “cooling off” period after the President leaves office during which these same restricted entities still cannot donate. This is a critical step to prevent the immediate post-presidency period from becoming a fundraising free-for-all.

The $10,000 Hard Cap

Beyond the donor bans, the bill introduces a strict aggregate limit on how much any single person can donate to the Library. From the date the individual is elected President until one year after they leave office, the total donations from one person cannot exceed $10,000. This cap will be adjusted for inflation over time, but for now, it’s a hard limit. This provision effectively eliminates the possibility of a billionaire cutting a $50 million check to secure a wing named after them during the President's active political life.

For the average person who might want to chip in $100 to support the archives, this changes nothing. But for the organizations responsible for building these multi-hundred-million-dollar centers, this is a massive shift. They will have to rely on a vast number of smaller, capped donations rather than a handful of super-donors. This could make fundraising significantly harder and slower for these institutions.

Transparency and Personal Use

One of the most powerful sections of this bill is the new reporting requirement. For a “covered period” (from election until five years after leaving office), the Library must report every donation of $200 or more received in a calendar quarter to the Archivist. This report includes the donor's name, address, employer, and occupation, and it must be done within 15 days of the quarter ending.

Then, the Archivist must post these complete reports online on the National Archives website within 30 days, making the data searchable and downloadable. If you’re interested in who is funding a President’s legacy, you’ll be able to see the details almost in real-time, which is a huge win for government watchdogs and public accountability.

Finally, the bill explicitly makes it illegal to use Library donations for personal benefit—meaning funds meant for the archives cannot be used to pay for expenses or obligations the President or their family would have had anyway. This closes a loophole that could allow library funds to subsidize personal lifestyles.

Real-World Impact: The Good and the Challenge

On the one hand, this bill is a major step toward cleaning up the fundraising surrounding presidential transitions. It directly addresses the appearance of corruption by preventing those who benefit directly from federal policy (contractors, lobbyists) from funding the President’s personal legacy project while they are still politically active. The public reporting mandate ensures that any substantial donation is immediately visible, creating a strong deterrent against shady dealings.

On the other hand, Presidential Libraries cost hundreds of millions of dollars to build and endow. By cutting off the largest potential donors—especially during the critical initial fundraising period—and capping all individual contributions at $10,000, this bill could severely impact the ability of these institutions to raise the necessary capital. It’s a trade-off: more ethics, potentially less funding for historical preservation. While the intent is to ensure these archives are free from the taint of influence, the practical challenge of securing initial financing for these massive projects just got much harder.