White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s old congressional campaign committee, Karoline for Congress, remains deep in debt to a host of companies and individuals, according to a new disclosure filed Friday afternoon with the Federal Election Commission.
During the final three months of 2025, Leavitt’s committee made no progress paying down the more than $326,000 it still owes creditors — debt that’s lingered since Rep. Chris Pappas defeated Leavitt in her 2022 bid to represent New Hampshire’s 1st Congressional District.
The committee reported no cash on hand entering this year.
The White House acknowledged NOTUS’ request for comment, but did not provide a comment in time for publication. Robert Phillips, the Karoline for Congress committee treasurer, did not respond to NOTUS’ request for comment.
Leavitt campaign committee debt hasn’t budged for a year, as previously reported by NOTUS. The majority of Karoline for Congress’ debt — more than $210,000 — is money that the campaign owes in the form of refunds to contributors who donated more than federal election law allowed.
The campaign has also seemingly failed to abide by federal campaign finance law, which requires campaigns to reallocate or refund donations that are above the individual contribution limit within 60 days.
But since Leavitt’s campaign committee is broke, according to its latest FEC report, it doesn’t have the money to issue refunds.
Karoline for Congress could conduct fundraisers, rent its supporter lists or otherwise solicit prospective donors in an effort to generate cash to retire its debts, per federal law. Leavitt is not personally liable for her committee’s debts, but she could assist in debt retirement efforts.
While uncommon, some defunct political campaigns with large debts have successfully paid off lingering liabilities, such as Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign.
