[link removed] [[link removed]] JANUARY 8, 2026
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As President Donald Trump began his Venezuelan pressure campaign, organizations with a vested interest ramped up their own influence efforts. And now they hope to benefit from U.S. control of the oil industry. Also new this week: Democratic presidential hopefuls are prepared to tap campaign and personal war chests to support allies in the midterms in expectation of support in 2028.
Sanctions, strategy and spin: Venezuela lobbying soars under Trump
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An analysis of lobbying filings shows that U.S. energy companies and organizations linked to the Venezuelan government increased their influence campaigns on issues related to the South American nation in 2025, as the Trump administration intensified military and financial pressure in the run-up to the Jan. 3 capture of President Nicolás Maduro.
After months of U.S. escalation U.S. forces captured Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, on Saturday. [[link removed]] Trump has said the United States would assume control [[link removed]] over Venezuela’s vast oil reserves and enlist U.S. companies to invest billions [[link removed]] in rebuilding the oil industry. Venezuela holds the world’s largest proven crude oil reserves [[link removed]] — about 303 billion barrels, or roughly 17 percent of global reserves.
As U.S. policy toward Venezuela hardened over the course of the year, federal lobbying activity accelerated. Twenty-three organizations reported lobbying on issues related to Venezuela through the third quarter of 2025, according to an OpenSecrets analysis of lobbying disclosure reports. According to data going back to 2008, an average of 11 organizations have lobbied on Venezuela each year, with 2025 having the second highest number of clients (23) after 2019, during which lobbyists reported representing 34 clients on such issues. (Lobbyists must report their fourth-quarter activities by Jan. 20.)
U.S. energy companies ramp up lobbying efforts
* Chevron is the only major U.S. oil company authorized to operate in Venezuela. It mentioned Venezuela 12 times in its 2025 lobbying filings, up from eight mentions in both 2023 and 2024, citing “Venezuela energy issues” and “Venezuela sanctions.” The company engaged Washington on sanctions and authorization issues tied to maintaining its joint ventures and ongoing operations under U.S. policy. Chevron may stand to benefit from higher volumes of Venezuelan oil flowing to the U.S. market
* Shell USA lobbied U.S. officials in 2025 over its role in Dragon, a proposed gas project off the coasts of Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago, that requires authorization under U.S. sanctions. Earlier in the year, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control revoked licenses [[link removed]] that had allowed Shell to advance the project, halting plans to extract Venezuelan gas and pipe it to Trinidad for processing, before later issuing a narrower authorization [[link removed]] reopening limited negotiations and preparatory work.
* Gulf Coast refiners Phillips 66 and PBF Energy each cited Venezuela in their 2025 lobbying filings after not mentioning it in 2023 or 2024, signaling renewed engagement with U.S. energy and sanctions policy.
But lobbying is not the only form of influence. The oil and gas businesses collectively donated $25.8 million to Trump’s 2024 campaign and outside groups that supported his candidacy, ranking the industry among his biggest supporters [[link removed]] . Chevron also donated $2 million to Trump’s second inauguration, and Shell gave $500,000.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright outlined U.S. plans [[link removed]] for selling Venezuelan oil on Wednesday. Wright, who founded an oilfield services company [[link removed]] in 2011, owned between $500,000 and $1 million [[link removed]] worth of stock in Chevron before joining the administration, but he sold those shares [[link removed]] in February 2025.
State-linked entities increase foreign agent spending
Oil and financial authorities linked to the Venezuelan government also ramped up spending in recent years to influence U.S. policy on sanctions, control of frozen assets, and which entities are recognized as authorized to manage Venezuela’s oil revenue.
In 2024, government-linked entities reported more than $3.5 million in foreign-agent spending — including $1.1 million from the Banco Central de Venezuela’s ad hoc board, a U.S.-recognized authority created to manage the country’s overseas assets, and $2.5 million from the opposition-appointed of PDVSA, according to OpenSecrets data [[link removed]] . Through the first three quarters of 2025, government-linked organizations already exceeded 2024 totals, reportedly spending more than $4.1 million.
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Democratic presidential contenders test the waters during midterm ‘shadow campaign’
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The next presidential election is still two years away, but several prominent Democrats are already positioning themselves for 2028 — using midterm elections as a proving ground to build influence, relationships and national profiles.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has banked nearly $4 million in his leadership PAC [[link removed]] , ready to assist his fellow Democrats in this year’s midterm elections.
Close behind him in monetary influence is Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who has used his personal wealth to finance both his own political career and a host of other Democrats.
And former Vice President Kamala Harris is establishing her own super PAC, Fight for the People, to influence the midterms as she weighs her options for the future.
All three Democrats, widely viewed as potential 2028 presidential candidates, are engaged in what amounts to a shadow campaign — one designed to build influence, accumulate favors and secure future endorsements. And they are not the only people who may be laying the groundwork for a White House campaign.
* Newsom's leadership PAC, Campaign for Democracy [[link removed]] , raised $3.9 million as of Sept. 16. More will likely be added to his coffers as he continues supporting party members. While he gave very little [[link removed]] to Democratic candidates in 2024, he is positioned to do more this year. Newsom has demonstrated he can be a campaign cash cow. In October, the governor’s effort to pass a redistricting measure in his state raised so much money and was so far ahead in the polls, he decided to simply stop fundraising.
* Harris announced in 2025 she would not run for governor of California, where Newsom is up against term limits. But she left open the possibility of another presidential bid and revealed she was forming a political action committee, the Fight for the People PAC, to help Democratic candidates in the midterm elections.
* Pritzker is the wealthiest officeholder in the United States, other than Donald Trump. The Pritzker family’s chain of Hyatt Hotels has left him with a personal fortune of $3.9 billion, according to Forbes [[link removed]] . He has poured more than $508 million into state and federal elections since 2015, including at least $348 million for his campaigns, according to a Washington Post analysis [[link removed]] . And he’s given to a who’s who of candidates in the Democratic Party, in addition to donating to state parties and Democratic-leaning PACs, an OpenSecrets analysis found [[link removed]] .
* Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro will spend this year running for a second term as governor and trying to flip as many as four congressional seats in his home state. If Shapiro can demonstrate his ability to deliver his home state by first delivering electoral wins for Democrats in the midterms, he will have major influence in the 2028 race. And he can lean on his connections to some of the Democrats’ biggest donors, including Jennifer Duda, George Soros, Reid Hoffman and Michael Bloomberg, all of whom have given to his past campaigns.
* Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is also testing the waters, holding town hall meetings in key states like Iowa and doing podcast interviews with influencers. He raised $15 million for the Biden-Harris ticket in 2024 [[link removed]] and will likely help Democrats fundraise this year.
* Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has high name recognition and has been outraising her fellow lawmakers [[link removed]] . Her campaign took in $15.4 million [[link removed]] in the first half of 2025 and had $9.8 million on hand at the end of June. Her “Fighting Oligarchy” tour with Sanders has many political strategists speculating that she might run for governor of New York or the White House.
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Quiz: Are you dark money savvy?
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Many Americans do not understand dark money or how it impacts elections. Take our quiz to see where you stand. And maybe you’ll learn something new about election transparency along the way.
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What else we're reading
Supreme Court halts ballot initiative that would ban corporations from election spending in Montana [[link removed]] (Daily Montanan)
Hawaiʻi's Transparency Problem Isn't Just About Secrecy [[link removed]ʻis-transparency-problem-isnt-just-about-secrecy/] (Honolulu Civil Beat)
North Dakota launches campaign finance and ethics systems to strengthen voter transparency [[link removed]] (The Sacramento Bee )
Shapiro opens 2nd term bid with $30M on hand, a record for a candidate heading into an election year [[link removed]] (Spotlight PA)
OpenSecrets in the News
See our media citations from outlets around the nation this week:
NRA sues its own charity in growing schism over trademarks, fundraising [[link removed]] (The Washington Post)
Monday’s court filings marked the latest explosion of internal warfare at the group, whose finances have been ravaged in recent years. According to campaign data tracker OpenSecrets [[link removed]] , the NRA spent $11 million in the 2024 elections, one-third of its 2020 spending and less than one-fifth of its 2016 spending.
Michigan loophole makes it difficult to track utilities’ donations to politicians [[link removed]] (The Guardian)
The record keeping at the federal level does not generally have the same problems, said Brendan Glavin, director of insights with the campaign finance watchdog OpenSecrets. The Federal Elections Commission has more resources than state election agencies, as do federal candidates who often hire firms to handle donations, Glavin said. He added that the level of mismatch seen in Michigan is rare, even for the state level.
Shapiro campaign has record $30M in cash on hand to kick off 2026 [[link removed]] (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
Mr. Shapiro drew almost $59 million in donations in 2022. The figure dwarfed the contributions to Mr. Mastriano’s campaign, which totaled about $8.2 million, according to OpenSecrets. Mr. Shapiro won by almost 15 percentage points.
Oil and gas industry spent $250 million on elections that produced the current US government—and a potential Venezuela windfall [[link removed]] (Forbes)
The oil and gas industry spent $249 million during the 2024 election cycle that brought in the current U.S. government, according to an analysis by OpenSecrets.
Trump-aligned super PAC enters 2026 midterms with nearly $300M war chest [[link removed]] (Fox News)
MAGA Inc. did not play a significant role in the 2022 midterms, opting instead to save its money for Trump's 2024 campaign. The super PAC spent $456 million supporting Trump's bid to return to the White House, according to OpenSecrets, a nonprofit organization that tracks campaign finance data.
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