Your weekly money in politics newsletter.

January 5, 2023

Club for Growth cuts deal with Congressional Leadership Fund to support Kevin McCarthy’s House speaker bid

The conservative advocacy group Club for Growth announced late Wednesday that it had reached a deal with the Congressional Leadership Fund — a hybrid PAC endorsed by Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) — “on support for Speaker Kevin McCarthy” as the U.S. House speaker battle enters its third day.

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Following record fundraising cycle, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis woos donors and lobbyists at inauguration events

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was sworn in Tuesday after raising more than $217 million for his reelection bid, the most raised by any gubernatorial candidate in U.S. history.

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Defense sector contributed heavily to 45 senators who secured $1.8 billion in military construction earmarks

U.S. senators securing military construction earmarks in the omnibus bill received an average of 51% more money from the defense sector than other senators during the 2022 election cycle.

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OpenSecrets in the News

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

Antitrust target Ticketmaster spends big on lobbying amid woeful 2022 (The Guardian)

“The spending has a lot to do with them playing defense because they have been accused for several years of behavior that has been anticompetitive, they have been accused of being a monopoly company and they have the DoJ investigation, so they are fighting on a number of fronts,” Krumholz said.

Trump taxes show foreign income from more than a dozen countries (POLITICO)

His far-flung concerns, foreign and domestic, are nested in more than 400 separate business entities. A 2019 report by the watchdog group OpenSecrets said he had more than $130 million in assets in more than 30 countries.

Did Republicans Know about George Santos Ahead of Time? (The Intercept)

Outside help for Santos came in the form of $3,377 from the National Right to Life Victory Fund, according to OpenSecrets, and a $54,000 transfer from Take Back the House 2022 PAC, a group aligned with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, according to federal filings — peanuts in a race that saw millions spent.

The American Prospect

Cleveland.com

WGN Radio