RNC fundraising hole 'worse than almost anyone knows': report

The financial shortfall facing the Republican National Committee going into the 2024 presidential election is worse than most people realize, argued Roger Sollenberger and Reese Gorman for The Daily Beast.

That's because a good chunk of the money they do have currently sitting in the bank is not even usable for political purposes.

"On the surface, the RNC currently has more than $11 million on hand for this upcoming election cycle. While that’s less than half of what the Democratic National Committee has in the bank at the moment — and far less than the $77 million the RNC had on hand at this point in the 2020 cycle — the RNC has pointed to fundraising numbers in recent months to suggest the party has turned a corner after a historically bad stretch last year," said the report. "However, a close examination of the RNC’s recent financial statements reveals that those numbers are hiding some holes. A lot of the RNC’s recent fundraising — millions of dollars of it — is unusable for political spending. Instead, that money can only support a limited range of activities."

One thing this money can be used for, the report noted, is paying former President Donald Trump's legal fees, which despite an internal battle, a majority of GOP officers appear intent on doing.

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"National parties like the RNC and DNC don’t just have one bank account; they also maintain segregated funds for specially designated expenses — conventions, buildings and maintenance, and legal or recount expenses — which can also be funded by donors. Those accounts, sometimes called 'Cromnibus' accounts, are subject to a separate set of rules, and while many of those regulations are still not set in stone, one of them is crystal clear: That money cannot be spent on political activity."

According to the report, some $8 million of all the funds the RNC raised this year, constituting 36 percent, fall under this category.

This comes as Trump pushed longtime RNC head Ronna McDaniel out and managed to get a new crop of loyalists, including his own daughter-in-law, hired to powerful positions in the committee. It also comes as the RNC has faced controversies, like having to walk back a plan to cancel funding for Hispanic community outreach centers.