The Democrats have set a new record for single-month lobbyist fundraising. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee reported a record $4.1 million in lobbyist-bundled contributions in February, according to a Sludge analysis of Federal Election Commission filings, a dramatic increase in corporate-linked fundraising as House Democrats are campaigning on “affordability.” The lobbyist-derived cash made up nearly one-third of the DCCC’s fundraising last month.
Lobbyist bundling, in which registered lobbyists collect checks from their clients and colleagues and deliver them in a single package, is a key way that corporate interests work to gain influence with lawmakers. Federal law requires disclosure of bundled contributions above $24,000.
The DCCC’s February total shatters previous records and builds on a trend of the Democrats’ increasing reliance on lobbyist bundling for their funds. January’s $3.6 million was itself a high-water mark, and as recently as 2023, monthly lobbyist bundling reported by the DCCC was generally much lower, typically in the tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars.
House Democrats have made affordability a central theme of their midterm message. When the DCCC announced its February fundraising haul, its chair Rep. Suzan DelBene (Wash.) highlighted rising costs, saying, “Everything is getting more expensive, far too many Americans can no longer afford their health care.” She blamed the affordability crisis on House Republicans.
DCCC Chair DelBene is herself among the top recipients of corporate-linked campaign contributions in the House. According to OpenSecrets, more than 40 percent of DelBene’s 2024 campaign receipts came from business PACs, ranking her eighth among House Democrats in total raised from those sources. DelBene’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
Many of the lobbyists contributing to DCCC’s record haul represent companies or trade groups that have opposed the very policies Democrats are promoting to reduce costs.
For example, several of the firms whose lobbyists bundled significant sums in February work for major pharmaceutical manufacturers and their trade associations that have spent years lobbying against expansive drug pricing reforms, including efforts to strengthen Medicare’s authority to negotiate prices. House Democrats have made expanding that authority and closing loopholes a central priority, with top committee chairs Frank Pallone and Richard Neal introducing the Lowering Drug Costs for American Families Act last November to do so.
Tiber Creek Group, whose lobbyists bundled nearly $480,000 for the DCCC in February, represents Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), and more than a dozen major drug manufacturers including Eli Lilly, AstraZeneca, Merck, Novartis, and Roche. Tiber Creek lobbyists Jonathan Jones and Corey Malmgen have both been lobbying Congress for PhRMA on “issues related to Medicaid pricing reform” and each contributed $49,000 in bundled funds to the DCCC in February.
