Understanding the federal government contractor prohibition

Federal government contractors are prohibited from making contributions and expenditures in connection with federal elections. A federal government contractor is a person who enters into a contract, or is bidding on such a contract, with any agency or department of the United States government and is paid, or is to be paid, for services, material, equipment, supplies, land or buildings with funds appropriated by Congress. Since corporate contributions are already prohibited, the contractor ban applies primarily to individuals, partnerships, and sole proprietors under contract with the federal government. For more information on whether this prohibition may apply to a particular source, please visit this web page.