Skip to main content
S 1849 119th Congress Senate Government Operations and Politics

Zeroing Out Money for Buying Influence after Elections (ZOMBIE) Act

Introduced: May 21, 2025 Introduced by: Bennet, Michael F. Democratic · Colorado See on congress.gov
Sign in to write a letter Sign in to watch
 Everywhere this bill has been 2 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
May 21, 2025
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration.
May 21, 2025
Introduced in Senate
 Ask about this bill AI · grounded in the bill text

Have a question about what this bill does? Ask in plain English; the answer is drawn from the bill's actual text and official record, and it'll tell you when something isn't in the text rather than guess.

AI answers can be imperfect; always confirm against the full bill text.

 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Zeroing Out Money for Buying Influence after Elections (ZOMBIE) Act

This bill establishes certain requirements for disbursing unused funds after a federal election. The bill also requires former candidates serving as registered lobbyists or foreign agents to comply with disbursement requirements.

Specifically, the bill requires each authorized committee or leadership political action committee (PAC) of a candidate to disburse all unused funds within a specified time period beginning after an election or before the candidate registers as a lobbyist or foreign agent, unless the candidate files to run for office again before the disbursement period begins.

A committee or PAC disbursing unspent funds shall first pay any obligations incurred. If funds are left over, the committee or PAC may only disburse the remaining funds for the following purposes: (1) returning funds to donors; and (2) making contributions to nonprofit organizations. The bill generally prohibits disbursements to relatives of the candidate or certain nonprofit organizations related to the candidate.

A former candidate must, in order to register as a lobbyist or foreign agent, comply with the disbursement requirements outlined by this bill.

What's happening now May 21, 2025

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration.

 Bill text 1 version

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

 Committees of jurisdiction 1
 Lobbying activity 3

Registered lobbyists who named this bill in their disclosure filings. Source: federal Lobbying Disclosure Act filings.

Cite this page click to expand
APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). S. 1849: Zeroing Out Money for Buying Influence after Elections (ZOMBIE) Act. 119th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-1849/
MLA
"S. 1849: Zeroing Out Money for Buying Influence after Elections (ZOMBIE) Act." 119th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-1849/.
Bluebook (legal)
S. 1849, 119th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-1849/.
Markdown link
[S. 1849: Zeroing Out Money for Buying Influence after Elections (ZOMBIE) Act](https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-1849/)
Report a problem