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With support from everyday voters hitting historic lows, congressional Democrats are turning more than ever to Washington lobbyists to fund their campaigns.
In the first half of 2025, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) raised over $10.8 million from federally registered lobbyists, according to new FEC disclosures, the group’s largest haul from K Street influence peddlers in any six-month period on record, according to a Sludge review.
The surge in lobbyist cash comes as public approval of Democrats in Congress has collapsed. A Quinnipiac University poll released last week found just 19 percent of voters approve of the way congressional Democrats are handling their jobs, the lowest rating since Quinnipiac began tracking the question in 2009. Even among registered Democrats, more than half of respondents said they disapprove of congressional Democrats’ job performance.
The Democrats’ lobbyist fundraising boom underscores the widening gap between the party’s financial base and its political base. While Democrats have struggled to mount a meaningful opposition to President Trump’s agenda during his second term, with most efforts amounting to floor speeches and failed amendments, they’ve seen no such obstacles when it comes to raising money from corporate-aligned donors who would like the Democrats to do their bidding.
