Your weekly money in politics newsletter.

March 9, 2023

Armed Services Committee members received $5.8 million from defense sector during 2022 election cycle

Individuals and PACs affiliated with the defense sector gave millions to Armed Services Committee members tasked with crafting the annual defense budget during the 2022 election cycle.

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Is permanent daylight saving time a good idea? Lobbyists, lawmakers and sleep experts are split.

A bill to make daylight saving time permanent is gaining momentum, but not everyone has such a sunny outlook on eliminating the “antiquated practice.”

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Senate Banking Committee presses Federal Reserve chair on capital requirements following big bank lobbying blitz

The Senate Banking Committee pressed Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell about bank funding after a lobbying blitz by the commercial banking industry.

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Wisconsin’s high-stakes, high-spending Supreme Court elections

The high-profile race for a swing seat on Wisconsin’s Supreme Court is attracting millions of dollars from outside groups and candidate campaigns alike in what is expected to be the most expensive campaign for a single judicial state race.

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OpenSecrets in the News

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

A toxic derailment, by the numbers (Marketplace)

Since 1998, the railway industry has spent more than $756 million on political lobbying, according to data from OpenSecrets. Norfolk Southern itself has contributed nearly $80 million toward lobbying in the same period.

As A.I. Booms, Lawmakers Struggle to Understand the Technology (The New York Times)

In 2020, Sundar Pichai, the chief executive of Alphabet, the parent of Google, visited Brussels to argue for “sensible regulation” that would not hold back the technology’s potential benefits. That same year, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and more than 30 companies, including Amazon and Meta, lobbied against facial recognition bills, according to OpenSecrets.org.

BigLaw Lobbying Shops Grow After Congressional Exits (Law360)

Last year, 154 former members of Congress were registered lobbyists, said Dan Auble, senior researcher with OpenSecrets.

Wall Street Journal