Jan 23, 2025 · The new chief of staff for Trump’s USDA, which oversees federal nutrition guidelines, has a lobbying background that may conflict with the mission to “Make America Healthy Again.” The Instagram and Facebook parent company spent $24.4 million on lobbying last year as lawmakers banned its rival ...

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Investigative journalism on money in politics

Jan 20, 2025 · One of the names being floated for the Trump administration’s next director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Melissa Holyoak, a commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission, previously worked as an attorney for an industry-funded think tank that is fighting the agency’s plans to protect consumers against tech companies like Meta and Google.

Oct 24, 2024 · There have been a lot of important money-in-politics stories this year that Sludge was the first, or only, newsroom to cover. We were… The first to list all of AIPAC’s contributions to members of Congress and candidates; The first and only to tally all the dark money backing both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump’s campaigns; The first and only to …

6 days ago · Lobbying group the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) was by far the largest PAC contributor to members of Congress and federal candidates in the 2023-2024 election cycle, funneling hard dollars to the campaigns of lawmakers who approved military aid packages for Israel’s war in Gaza.

Jan 9, 2025 · Update: The bill covered below, H.R. 23, passed the U.S. House this afternoon by a vote of 243-140, with 45 House Democrats voting with Republicans.. On Monday, I wrote about how the new Congress was elected with record-shattering money from the pro-Israel group AIPAC—the group gave more money to candidates during the 2023-24 election cycle than any other group ever.

Nov 14, 2024 · The American Petroleum Institute (API), the top oil and gas lobbying group, sent President-elect Donald Trump its policy wish list this week, after donors from the industry helped power the largest pro-Trump super PAC and propelled Republicans to retake control of …

Aug 16, 2024 · The federal lawmakers who Sludge found have revealed violating the STOCK Act so far this month are senators John Fetterman (D-Pa.) and Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), plus representatives Greg Landsman (D-Ohio), Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.), David Joyce (R-Ohio), Stephanie Bice (R-Okla.), Sean Casten (D-Ill.), Thomas Kean Jr. …

Dec 11, 2024 · A Sludge data analysis shows how much money the six largest American oil companies like ExxonMobil and Chevron spent on federal politics during 2023-24. Unbeknownst to voters, Trump's top super PAC received a total of $62 million in the weeks before Election Day from a dark money group whose leader ...