Democratic National Committee weighing millions pertinent to Kamala Harris election campaign, and book launching.

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) has paid more than $15 million toward Harris 2024 campaign expenses in the first six months of 2025, which had resulted in her defeat against Donald Trump.

The continued payments and lacklustre fundraising left the DNC with $65 million less cash on hand than the Republican National Committee (RNC) at the end of July. The DNC had just $15 million, while the RNC, has helped along by Trump’s and Vice President Vance’s fundraising managed to raise $80 million.

The financial woes have resulted in Democrats continuing to point fingers at each other nearly 10 months after last November’s election. Some donors and senior Democrats are angry that Harris’ campaign spent an unprecedented $1.5 billion during her 15-week run and still lost all seven swing states. Some donors have grown reluctant to give the DNC more money even as the party is trying to pivot to the 2026 midterms. Democrats have asked Harris and her team to hold more fundraisers and call more donors to solicit contributions to help pay off the expenses, but her allies believe she’s done her part.

Harris has allowed the DNC to continue using her email list to help raise money and has held a few small fundraising events. But the total money raised from the events has been disappointing, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Vide an official press release the DNC has affirmed that, “The vice president has collaborated closely with the DNC to manage campaign expenses and expand our base of grassroots donors. She remains fully committed to strengthening the party and helping return Democrats to power“, Jen O’Malley Dillon, who chaired Harris’ campaign and is still involved, told Media. On behalf of Harris, the DNC has paid for the following items during the past six months:

• $548,050 to the charter flight company Executive Fliteways Inc.
• $2.125 million to the media production firm Assembly House LLC.
• $237,201 to the law firm Covington & Burling.

As a matter of deterrence, other Democrats are pointing fingers at the former vice president to try to deflect blame from the new DNC chair, Ken Martin. They argue Martin hasn’t focused enough on fundraising as he has bolstered his public profile at events across the country and in media interviews.

It’s also been standard practice for the DNC to step in financially after a campaign — win or lose.

Former US President Barack Obama had left the DNC in worse shape after his 2012 re-election, and the debt wasn’t settled until 2015. Hillary Clinton, the party’s 2016 presidential nominee, later would say the DNC wasn’t strong enough for that election.

Democrats have found themselves caught on the wrong leg by the continued Harris payments in part because her campaign’s leadership had said the financial situation was in order. “As of Election Day, there were no outstanding debts or bills overdue, and there will be no debt on either the DNC or the Harris for President committee report for post general report“, Patrick Stauffer, the campaign’s chief financial officer, told reporters last November as Democrats scrutinised campaign payments.

His statement was true, but several million dollars’ worth of bills would continue to roll in during the following months and the full level of expenses wasn’t clear at the time. Some of the bills ended up being more than expected. Harris’ campaign also was surprised that the race was called on election night — it had expected to raise more money as votes were being counted.

Furthermore, the former Vice President Kamala Harris is trying to sell her upcoming book – 107 Days through the joint committee her campaign team ran with the Democratic National Committee. Last weekend, Harris’ team sent a promotional email about the book, “107 Days”, that was paid for by the Harris Victory Fund — a collaboration between her presidential campaign, the DNC and state Democratic parties.

Kamala Harris a strong contender of the 2028 presidential candidate; the party apparatus is supposed to be neutral in how it deals with possible contenders. It’s unclear how the DNC will approach books by other potential 2028 candidates.

Democratic operatives and some activists are watching the DNC closely because they believe the committee unfairly interfered in the last several presidential primary seasons to either stop Senator Bernie Sanders’ campaign or block any serious challenge to then-President Biden.

In an email with the subject line “107 Days”, the former vice president wrote: “Since leaving office, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about our presidential campaign: what I saw, what I learned, and what I know it will take to move forward. I’ve compiled it in a book called ‘107 Days’“, she wrote. She has linked a short video trailer of her explaining the book that also includes a link to preorder it before its Sept. 23 release.

Moreover, she has not solicit donations for the Democratic Party. The bottom of the email reads: “Paid for by Harris Victory Fund, a joint fundraising committee authorized by Harris for President, the Democratic National Committee and the State Democratic Parties”, after which it lists dozens of states.

“The Federal Election Commission has advised that a candidate may only use their campaign list to promote their book if they personally reimburse the committee for the list’s fair market value“, said longtime campaign finance expert Brendan Fischer. Harris has kept open her campaign’s joint fund with the DNC 10 months after the election to continue raising money and pay off debts the campaign and the DNC built up during the 2024 campaign.

The Victory Fund raised $7.2 million during the first six months of this year and transferred $5.5 million to the DNC in that period, according to filings with the FEC. Harris also has kept open the Harris for President committee. It raised $6.7 million over the first six months of the year, but that committee wasn’t used to promote Harris’ book. It has continued to pay some staff including campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon, as it has continued its work.

Campaign finance specialists say the Victory Fund email list likely would be more robust because it is pooled from the various committees, and Harris inherited it from Biden after he dropped out of the presidential race in July 2024.

Team Maverick