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This fact brief was originally published as an experiment to test the concepts behind fact briefs.

Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of useful information in fact briefs like this one, not all of them reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

FACT BRIEF

Does Sen. McConnell have control of Republican National Committee funds?

Friday, February 19, 2021

By Eric Smith

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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell may have a degree of influence within the Republican National Committee as a high-ranking Republican officeholder, but he does not have any direct control over its spending. The Committee is run by a chair along with an executive committee elected by party members and officials, who in turn approve budgets.

Ronna McDaniel, an early supporter of Donald Trump, became the RNC Chair after Trump’s 2016 victory. In January 2020, she ran unopposed and won another term. In a recent Associated Press interview she said “the party has to stay neutral” in 2024 presidential primaries regardless of whether Trump decides to run again.

The RNC raised $890 million in the 2020 cycle, and as of Feb. 19 had $80.5 million on hand.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

GOP.com Republican National Committee: Rules of the Republican Party, adopted Aug. 24, 2020

AP News AP News: GOP to stay neutral should Trump run again

Open Secrets: Republican National Committee fundraising in 2020 election cycle

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Gigafact

Between 2020 and 2022, under close editorial supervision, Gigafact contracted a group of freelance writers and editors to test the concepts for fact briefs and provide inputs to our software development process. We call this effort Gigafact Foundry. Over the course of these two years, Gigafact Foundry writers published over 1500 fact briefs in response to claims they found online. Their important work forms the basis of Gigafact formats and editorial guidelines, and is available to the public on Gigafact.org. Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of relevant information to be found, not all fact briefs produced by Gigafact Foundry reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date and need to be looked at with fresh eyes, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

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About fact briefs published on Gigafact

Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.