No, these government agencies didn’t donate taxpayer money to Kamala Harris’ campaign

Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign said it has raised more than half a billion dollars in donations since its July launch. But has some of that money come from the U.S. government, as some social media users claimed?

In an Aug. 26 Instagram reel, a woman said she researched Harris’ top donors and some of them were "eye-openers."

"I thought I would share them with you because these are government entities that we fund as taxpayers, and I don’t understand how it is not a conflict of interest for them to make a campaign donation," the woman said.

She says four government agencies — the Defense Department, the Department of Health and Human Services, the State Department and the Department of Veterans Affairs — have donated almost $900,000 to Harris’ campaign.

(Screengrab from Instagram)

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This video was originally posted on TikTok. In a follow-up TikTok video, the woman said her source is Open Secrets, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that tracks money in politics.

Although these four government agencies are listed among the top contributors to Harris’ campaign on Open Secrets’ website, it doesn’t mean the agencies themselves donated to her campaign. Open Secrets’ top contributor list groups donations by employer or affiliation, the organization says.

Above the list of top contributors, Open Secrets explains that the contribution totals come from "the organizations’ PACs (political action committees); their individual members, employees or owners; and those individuals’ immediate families." It adds that, "At the federal level, the organizations themselves did not donate, as they are prohibited by law from doing so." 

As of July 29, Open Secrets reported the following contributions to Harris’ campaign from people affiliated with these government agencies:

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• Defense Department: $213,460

• Health and Human Services: $203,574

• State Department: $197,640

• Veterans Affairs: $217,420

Government agencies, including the Defense Department and the Department of Veterans Affairs, are also listed among the top contributors to former President Donald Trump’s presidential campaign on Open Secrets’ website.

Under each of these government agencies, Open Secrets’ website says individuals were the source of the political contributions..

On these top contributor pages, Open Secrets further explains why and how it uses donors’ employer and occupation information.

"Corporations themselves cannot donate to candidates at the federal level but federal candidates can get contributions from corporate PACs, employees and owners as well as their immediate families," Open Secrets’ website says.

Federal law requires that campaigns itemize donations exceeding $200. If a donation is from a person, the campaign must disclose that person’s name, mailing address, employer and occupation, according to the Federal Election Commission.

Open Secrets’ website says it groups contributions by employer/occupation because "showing these clusters of contributions from people associated with particular organizations provides a valuable — and unique — way of understanding where candidates are getting their financial support."

We rate the claim that four government agencies donated nearly $900,000 of taxpayer money to Harris’ presidential campaign False.