ActBlue is now requiring donors to upload passport images to prove their identity. This change comes after Republican lawmakers found flaws in the platform’s old screening methods. The platform had previously only checked if a number had the right length of characters. That old system let invalid entries slip through without real checks. The new program requires valid passport images rather than just a number entry.
ActBlue’s lawyers sent a letter to Congress on Monday about these updates. They claim the move helps secure donations from people living outside the United States. The letter states the program “adds passport-based identity verification as a further enhancement to ActBlue’s multi-layered approach to fraud and foreign-contribution prevention”. This update aims to stop illegal foreign money from entering American campaigns. It also lets U.S. citizens abroad donate again after a suspension in 2025.
House Republicans say they forced these changes with their own probe. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) took credit for the shift in an interview with the Washington Examiner. He told the outlet, “None of this would have happened but for our investigation”. Jordan noted that ten out of ten ActBlue executives refused to answer questions during the probe. During a June hearing, CEO Regina Wallace-Jones invoked the Fifth Amendment 22 times.
Rep. Bryan Steil (R-WI), who chairs the House Administration Committee, called the delay unacceptable. He told Fox News Digital that the new policy confirms ActBlue failed to check citizenship earlier. Steil stated, “This new policy should have been in place on day one”. He also pointed out that too many questions remain about foreign money. Steil noted, “Right now, far too many questions remain unanswered, including what percentage of the billions of dollars that have flowed through ActBlue came from illegal foreign sources”.
The Washington Examiner reported that the old system was easily bypassed by bad actors. It said the previous check only counted characters in a passport number field. It did not verify if that number actually belonged to a real passport. This weakness allowed foreign donations to flow into U.S. elections for years. The new rules fix this gap by demanding a photo of the actual document.
ActBlue says it invested heavily in engineering to make these checks work. The letter to Congress mentions an “ongoing investment in the security of contributions processed from donors located abroad”. They claim this allows U.S. citizens overseas to resume supporting their favorite causes. The group says these citizens have been unable to contribute on the platform since 2025.
Rep. Steil promised that the committee will keep pushing for more answers. He said, “Chairman Jordan, Chairman Comer, and I will continue to seek answers for the American people”. The investigation revealed that the legal team at ActBlue also left the company during the probe. This exodus raised further concerns about what the group knew and when they knew it.
The committee held a hearing in June to address these fraudulent donation issues. ActBlue’s CEO dodged direct questions about foreign donations and fraud controls during that session. She used her Fifth Amendment rights repeatedly to avoid testifying. Now that the new rules are in place, the committee will watch how they work. They will see if the new passport checks truly stop illegal foreign cash.
