Meta Platforms and its subsidiaries spent a record high $7.6 million on lobbying the federal government in the first quarter of the year as the U.S. Congress advanced legislation that could ban Instagram’s chief competitor, TikTok. Meta’s recent disclosure, covering lobbying activities from January through March, does not mention the TikTok ban issue directly, but it says that the company lobbied Congress and the White House on “Homeland Security” topics including “Discussions regarding cybersecurity, data security, encryption, platform integrity, election integrity, content policy, and terro ..read more

The United Democracy Project (UDP), the super PAC of pro-Israel lobbying group the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), raised more than $1.8 million in March, according to a new filing with the Federal Election Commission. The UDP, which has nearly $33.4 million cash on hand, is a main spending vehicle in AIPAC’s plan to shell out $100 million this year opposing candidates who criticize Israel’s war on Gaza. Also in March, AIPAC’s PAC made a record high $4.1 million in contributions to scores of congressional lawmakers and federal candidates, making up the bulk of its $4.3 milli ..read more

Democratic Nevada Sen. Jacky Rosen recently proposed bipartisan legislation that would create a new national coordinator to lead efforts to counter antisemitism, including steps to address the spread of antisemitism online.  “There have been countless disturbing stories of Jewish families accosted and assaulted on streets, Jewish businesses and places of worship vandalized and desecrated, and Jewish students threatened at colleges and universities,” Rosen said in a press release announcing her bill. “My bipartisan legislation would establish a National Coordinator to Counter Antisemitism ..read more

Pro-Israel super PACs have been unloading millions of dollars in Democratic primaries this year, attacking candidates they view as voicing criticism of Israel’s war in Gaza. Democratic Majority for Israel (DMFI), a super PAC closely tied to lobbying group the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), raised $418,000 from Feb. 15 through March 31, according to a disclosure filed today with the Federal Election Commission. DMFI headed into April with almost $3 million cash on hand. The super PAC’s largest donation during the period came from Ann Pava of Connecticut, who gave $131,000 an ..read more

Corporate lobbying giant the U.S. Chamber of Commerce donated $4.1 million last quarter to support a Republican establishment-aligned candidate in Ohio’s Republican Senate primary who was defeated by a candidate backed by former President Donald Trump.  The Chamber, a trade association funded by dues from American companies, gave the funds to the Buckeye Leadership Fund over two transactions in early March, according to contributions information recently reported to the Federal Election Commission. The PAC spent more than $7  million in March to support Republican Ohio state Senator ..read more

Republicans are eyeing control of the U.S. Senate next year, hoping to flip the upper chamber by racking up wins in the November elections. The GOP will need a net gain of either one or two seats, depending on the outcome of the presidential contest, to have a Senate majority. In West Virginia, Republican Gov. Jim Justice is running for the Senate in a state that former President Trump won in 2020 by nearly 39 percentage points. The next most Trump-friendly state with a Senate race this year is Montana, which was won by Trump in 2020 by more than 16 points. There, Democratic Sen. Jon Tester f ..read more

No Labels announced yesterday it was standing down from its plans to run a third-party presidential ticket after it could not find candidates to carry its banner. Since the start of last year, Sludge has focused on digging into the group’s paperwork. In a series of stories, we exposed the extensive corporate ties of No Labels’ D.C. leaders, named more of its billionaire funders, and revealed the companies that have given it donations. We do this work as a two-person muckraking newsroom. We page through far-flung filings, research the people and organizations affiliated with Big Money interests ..read more

A super PAC funded by conservative megadonor Jeff Yass has spent more than half a million dollars in recent weeks urging Pennsylvania Democrats to support a primary challenger running against progressive House Democrat Summer Lee.  The Moderate PAC, which was formed in 2021, is airing ads in Pennsylvania’s 12th District that attack Lee for what it calls her “extreme socialist agenda,” and calling on Democratic primary voters to choose Lee’s challenger Bhavini Patel. The ads go after Lee for criticizing President Biden and the Democratic Party, and for voting against the debt ceiling bill ..read more

In September 2022, President Joe Biden made a rare appearance in the White House Briefing Room to call on congressional Republicans to get behind a Democratic bill to end “dark money” in U.S. elections.  “Dark money erodes public trust,” Biden said. “We need to protect public trust. And I’m determined to do that.” But that bill was never passed, and the Biden administration has not taken any meaningful actions to address the issue. For example, Democratic senators and a coalition of liberal groups have been urging Biden to begin addressing dark money in politics by issuing an executive o ..read more

Donald Trump’s net worth soared by billions of dollars after his social media company merged with an acquisition company whose largest institutional shareholder was the firm of billionaire Republican megadonor Jeff Yass.  The merger, approved Friday, increased the former President Trump’s paper fortune by more than $4 billion today, vaulting Trump onto Bloomberg’s list of the world’s 500 wealthiest people for the first time. The figure is based on the current stock price of Digital World Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) that owns shares in scores of compani ..read more