A major Republican Party benefactor has all but pulled his funding for GOP Senate hopefuls ahead of the midterms after lawmakers failed to deliver Donald Trump’s planned voting overhaul.
Timothy Mellon, 84, has made no publicly disclosed contribution supporting GOP Senate nominees this cycle, according to a New York Times analysis of federal filings. His reported giving to Republican candidates and groups in the same period has fallen to roughly $3.1 million.
This compares to the roughly $197 million the reclusive heir to the Mellon banking empire poured into federal political groups during the 2024 cycle, including $150 million into Trump’s MAGA Inc.
People familiar with the matter attributed that decision to the Senate’s failure to enact the SAVE America Act. Majority Leader John Thune supported the legislation but said in March that “the votes aren’t there” to scrap the filibuster and pass it with Republican votes alone.
Mellon voiced his upset after Senate Republicans sent him a fundraising appeal, the Times reported on Wednesday. He personally replied that no donation was coming because senators had failed to pass the legislation, a person familiar with the exchange told the outlet.
The SAVE America Act would require people registering for federal elections to produce documents proving their U.S. citizenship and require ID when voting. Its latest version also adds identification rules for absentee ballots.
Democrats have opposed the measure, while Trump repeatedly pressured Republican senators to pass it.
However, Mellon has not stopped spending on the party altogether, as the Times reports he has donated $20 million to the Congressional Leadership Fund, but that August contribution has not yet appeared in public campaign-finance reports.
Mellon has previously been very generous to the GOP. He handed $30 million to the Senate Leadership Fund in 2020 and around another $30 million across Senate-focused groups during the next two election cycles, according to the Times.
Other wealthy donors have helped fill the gap, and the Senate GOP’s principal outside group remains heavily funded heading into November, the outlet reports.
Mellon’s representatives declined to comment to the Times. The Daily Beast has approached them for comment.
