millionaire’s amendment

United States law

Written by

The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last updated

June 17, 2026

Quick Summary

The "millionaire's amendment" was a provision within the U.S. Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA). This law aimed to reduce the influence of "soft money" in political campaigns. The millionaire's amendment specifically allowed candidates to accept campaign contributions exceeding federal limits if their opponent spent a significant amount of their own personal wealth on the campaign. This provision was intended to level the playing field when a wealthy candidate self-funded their campaign. However, this part of the BCRA was later struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court.1

Summary created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

2 Britannica Sources

Ask Britannica AI about this topic

Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.

Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002
The millionaire’s amendment
The so-called millionaire’s amendment provision of the BCRA allowed candidates whose opponents spent more than a certain amount of their own money (as determined by a complex formula) to accept contributions in excess of the FECA limits. Thus, in the Illinois 2004 Democratic…
Read More
The so-called millionaire’s amendment provision of the BCRA allowed candidates whose opponents spent more than a certain amount of their own money (as determined by a complex formula) to accept contributions in excess of the FECA limits. Thus, in the Illinois 2004 Democratic…
Read More