FEC filing system remains offline as midterm spending tops $11 billion

The Federal Election Commission’s electronic filing system remained offline in the early hours of Wednesday, October 28, preventing the public from viewing new campaign finance disclosures. The agency stated that it identified the issue on Tuesday night and is currently implementing a fix. This shutdown occurs during a period of intense financial activity leading up to the midterm elections.

The outage began around 10 p.m. ET on Monday. An FEC official notified campaign compliance firms on Monday night that a bad actor was attempting to breach the agency’s systems. The agency has not identified the intruder or confirmed whether data was compromised. Previously filed reports remain searchable, but new submissions are stuck in a backlog.

The timing of the failure disrupts the standard flow of information for voters. In the final 20 days before an election, candidate committees must report contributions or loans of $1,000 or more within 48 hours. Political committees and outside groups must disclose spending within 24 hours. These strict deadlines are designed to provide a near-real-time view of money entering races during the critical closing days.

The lack of visibility is notable given the scale of recent expenditures. Elon Musk’s America PAC reported nearly $6.8 million in independent expenditures for communications disseminated on October 20. New money of this magnitude typically becomes public almost immediately. With the system down, such flows remain hidden until the service is restored.

The 2026 midterm cycle is the most expensive U.S. election cycle on record by political advertising standards. AdImpact reported that $11.21 billion has been spent or reserved as of Monday night. Between October 20 and October 26, political committees and other outside groups reported nearly $610 million in independent expenditures. This equates to an average of about $87 million per day.

The agency operates with reduced leadership capacity. The six-member FEC has had just two members since October 2025. It has lacked the four commissioners required to take official action since May 2025. Career staff continue to process disclosures and manage day-to-day operations. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency did not respond to a request for comment. The Federal Bureau of Investigation deferred to the FEC regarding the incident.

FEC IT staff are working to restore the service. The next step is a full return of the electronic filing platform so that committees can meet their statutory reporting deadlines.