Eric Swalwell’s Old Congressional Campaign Continued to Spend Big On Child Care

Former Rep. Eric Swalwell spent thousands of his federal campaign dollars on child care expenses in the first quarter of the year, despite not running for re-election to Congress.

Swalwell, a Democrat who has historically been one of the biggest proponents of using campaign funds for child care, spent more than $2,500 on child care in the first three months of the year, according to his old House campaign’s latest report filed Wednesday evening with the Federal Election Commission.

That money went directly to Swalwell himself for “child care reimbursement” for childcare provided by Amanda Barbosa, who is currently at the center of an investigation by the Department of Homeland Security for illegally working in the country.

Swalwell did not respond to a request for comment.

“The FEC permits campaign funds to be used for child care but only if the candidate has to hire child care because he or she is running for office — in other words if there would be no need to hire child care if the candidate is not a candidate,” Richard Briffault, a professor at Columbia University Law School who specializes in campaign finance, told NOTUS.

Erin Chlopak, senior director of campaign finance at the nonprofit watchdog Campaign Legal Center, told NOTUS in an email that the FEC “doesn’t apply a bright-line rule when it comes to determining whether campaign funds can be used for a federal candidate or officeholder’s childcare expenses.”

“Instead, it assesses whether the childcare costs would exist ‘irrespective’ of the candidate or officeholder’s campaign or officeholder duties,” Chlopak added. “If they would not — i.e., if the costs are incurred as a result of the person engaging in official campaign or officeholder activities (and assuming they are reasonable), then the Commission would likely deem them a permissible use of campaign funds.”

In 2025, Swalwell’s congressional campaign spent nearly $72,000 on child care expenses, according to a NOTUS analysis of his campaign’s FEC reports. Most of that total went to Swalwell himself for “child care” and “child care reimbursement” for payments to Barbosa and Bambini Play & Learn Child Development Center.

Swalwell’s campaign committee and leadership PAC, Remedy PAC, remained flush with cash entering April, NOTUS reported.

Steve Roberts, partner and co-chair of the political law practice at Lex Politica, told NOTUS that the FEC’s rules on using campaign funds to cover child care are “crystal clear.”

“Campaign funds can’t subsidize child care that exists independent of a candidate’s congressional campaign. In fact, the FEC issued a direct advisory opinion in 2022 to Eric Swalwell and his campaign denying express permission to travel ‘for other entities,’ even in his capacity as a member of Congress,” Roberts told NOTUS.

Swalwell, who was first elected to the House in 2012, launched his California gubernatorial campaign in November 2025. His campaign and leadership PAC’s child care spending dropped off significantly after the announcement but not entirely.

Swalwell’s leadership PAC also spent nearly $2,000 on child care between April 2025 and January 2026. Swalwell’s campaign reimbursed him nearly $1,000 for Barbosa’s childcare cost in April 2025 and gave him nearly $1,000 directly for child care in January as well.

“Ironically, it is quite possible and perhaps even likely that the leadership PAC payment is a personal use, since the FEC has found it permissible to use leadership PAC funds for personal use (but payments by the leadership PAC for official campaign expenses would constitute a campaign contribution),” Chlopak told NOTUS.

But Roberts told NOTUS that it “may be time for an investigation into whether Swalwell converted hundreds of thousands of campaign dollars into his own family budget.”

“Every child care expense after [Swalwell launched his California governor campaign] — and potentially before, if tied to out-of-district travel or ‘testing the waters’ — needs to be examined for personal use or in-kind support for his gubernatorial bid,” Roberts wrote in a message to NOTUS.

Swalwell is facing an investigation in Los Angeles over allegations of sexual assault and misiconduct, the county’s district attorney announced earlier this week.

On Tuesday, Swalwell resigned in disgrace after multiple women, including former staffers, came forward and accused him of sexual assault.

NOTUS spoke with one woman who said that Swalwell sexually assaulted her when she was a staffer and years later after she had left the office. NOTUS also spoke with an intern who said Swalwell approached her and asked for her Snapchat, only to later begin sending her sexual messages and even invited her to his hotel room.

Swalwell has denied the sexual assault allegations.