OpenSecrets in the News

See our media citations from outlets around the nation this week:  

Corporate America launches massive lobbying blitz to kill key parts of Democrats’ $3.5 trillion economic plan (The Washington Post)
“A lot of Americans live in districts represented by more moderate candidates, and those members don’t necessarily know whether they’re going to be in office in a couple years” said Sarah Bryner, director of research and strategy at OpenSecrets, which tracks lobbying spending. “By targeting people in districts of what we might say are vulnerable members, which tend to be more centrist, companies hope to exert pressure essentially.”

Trump Funding Network Paid $4.3 Million To People, Firms Who Set Up Jan. 6 Rally: Report (HuffPost)
Former President Donald Trump’s political fundraising operation reported has paid more than $4.3 million since the start of the 2020 election cycle to individuals and firms that organized the Jan. 6 rally that preceded the attack on the U.S. Capitol, according to a report published Monday by the government watchdog group OpenSecrets.

More than a dozen Democrats back Republican push to increase defense spending by $25 billion more than Biden requested (Business Insider)
In 2020, the US accounted for 39% of global military expenditures, per the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. The vote to increase the military budget comes after the defense industry spent $57 million on lobbying members of Congress in the first half of 2021, according to OpenSecrets.