Boehner, who will resign his 8th District seat at the end of this month, has $4.1 million in a campaign fund joint fundraisng account and $1.1 million in his leadership PAC, The Freedom Project.
And though there are restrictions on his fundraising accounts, Boehner will have more freedom to do what he wants with the money in his leadership PAC money, according to Paul S. Ryan, senior counsel with the D.C.-based Campaign Legal Center.
“The list of what he can’t do is much shorter” than what Boehner can do with the money, he said.
Boehner has just under $3.8 million in his Friends of John Boehner account, and more than $350,000 in his Boehner for Speaker account. In July, finance reports shows $1.5 million was transferred from the Boehner for Speaker account to the Friends of John Boehner account.
Candidates cannot use campaign funds for personal use, such as mortgage, rent, clothing or tuition, according to Federal Elections Commission regulations. But that doesn't mean Boehner can't use some of his leadership PAC money for personal use — so long as he pays income taxes on it.
Members of Congress were previously able to keep all unspent campaign funds as a retirement fund, but that practice became illegal in the 1980s.
“He can’t pocket the money, but he can do pretty much anything else he wants with it,” Ryan said.
Also on the “can’t” list is donating money from his campaign accounts to his PAC in an attempt to use it for personal gains.
Boehner’s campaign and office declined to comment for this story.
As for donors looking for a refund because Boehner is leaving in the middle of his 13th term in Congress, Ryan said, “Donor beware.”
Boehner does not have to give campaign money back, he said. That also applies to how Boehner will use the money in the future.
“If you’re breaking out your checkbook to a politician or any other type of political player, don’t make any assumption about the law … there are any number of ways they can spend that money that a donor may not be happy about that are perfectly legal,” Ryan said.
Republicans lose fundraising machine
In his re-election bids, Boehner spent more than 90 percent of his money raised, even in years when he had an easier route to re-election.
In 2012, Boehner’s lone congressional opponent was Constitution Party member James Condit Jr. who raised and spent just several thousand dollars while Boehner raised $22 million and spent $21.1 million.
However, the majority of Boehner’s disbursements are transfers to the National Republican Congressional Committee, and contributions directly to candidates.
The soon-to-be former congressman also shares his fundraising fortune, so it’s likely Republicans are going to be looking his way for a boost in their campaign coffers, said Miami University political science professor John Forren.
Boehner has been “very supportive” financially of Republicans in the past, calling it a “time-honored tradition” for those in leadership positions to help the ranks with fundraising and giving money.
“One of the relatively common decisions is to use it a way to strengthen the party as you’re leaving,” Forren said. “It’s hard to predict what he will do because it’s not easy to predict what his relationship will be with the party as he’s leaving because it’s a party divided.”
Since January, Boehner’s primary campaign finance account gave the National Republican Congressional Committee more than $6.5 million and the Republican Senate Campaign Committee more than $18,000, according to FEC reports. Also since January, he’s contributed to congressional campaigns from the East Coast to the West Coast, collectively dolling out $800,000.
Over his 25-year congressional career, Boehner has raised more than any current House member. While the Center for Responsive Politics claims Boehner has raised $97 million since 1989 through his campaign fund and leadership PAC. However, according to GOP political aide, Boehner has raised nearly $300 million for the Republican since 2009 and more than $35 million in the 2015 fundraising cycle.
This includes money raised by his committees — Boehner for Speaker, The Freedom Project and Friends of John Boehner — as well as money raised by Boehner for the National Republican Congressional Committee, members, candidates and other Republican Party committees.
Controlling millions of dollars is not unheard of with former congressmen and senators. The Center for Public Integrity reported last year there are dozens of former members of Congress and candidates who have six-figure campaign coffers still active and more than a half-dozen former congressmen with at least $1 million, including the leader of the group former Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Indiana, who left office in 2011. As of June 30, the latest reported campaign finance data, Bayh has more than $10 million in his campaign coffers.
Along with politicos likely approaching Boehner with a hand out, Forren said he “would not be surprised” to hear from nonprofits and charities.
Boehner, a former altar boy who wept openly during Pope Francis’ address to Congress, is a long-time supporter of Catholic charities.
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