Sixteen members of Congress have reimbursed themselves hundreds of thousands of dollars each from campaign donations for personal money they spent on their campaigns thanks to a 2022 Supreme Court ruling that removed limits on repayments for personal spending on campaigns, Roll Call reports.  Before the SCOTUS ruling, there were time and amount limitations for repayment of personal loans to politicians’ own campaigns; those limits do not exist any longer.

Republican Ohio Senator JD Vance has take 42% of donations, or $480,000 since his 2022 election to repay himself.  Republican Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson took $400,000 in May for a personal loan that goes back to 2010; with a personal net worth exceeding $40 million, Johnson has more than $8 million in personal loans for all his Senate campaigns that he’ll likely take donors’ money to re-enrich himself.  Oklahoma’s GOP Senator Markwayne Mullin, who once claimed he only made $50,000 per year but amassed a fortune putting his net worth somewhere over $35 million, has started to repay the $1 million he used.  Mullin’s campaign now has less than $200,000 cash on hand.

Mehmet Oz, the TeeVee doctor from New Jersey who made an unsuccessful run for a Pennsylvania Senate seat, has repaid himself more than $1 million of the $26 million he reported lending to his campaign.  He continues to fundraise off the Republican base to try to recoup his losses.  On financial disclosures, Oz reported his personal net wealth between $76 million to $300 million, mostly from his television show in which he frequently promoted snake oil cures. 

The repayment of personal funds used to finance campaigns voids one of the major taking points used by wealthy candidates, like the multiple-times indicted Donald Trump, who claim they are beyond corruption because of their wealth.  Their wealth, however, demonstrates their greed, which in fact, makes them more likely to be corrupt.