Every year, the defense industry donates millions of dollars to the campaigns of members of Congress, creating pressure on the legislative branch to fund specific weapons systems, maintain an extremely high Pentagon budget, and add ever more military spending˳ This upwards pressure is a constant, no matter what figure is requested by the president for the Pentagon, even though nearly 50% of the current Pentagon budget already goes to private contractors each year˳
Members of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees are especially targeted by defense contractors˳ These committee members determine the amount of money authorized for the Pentagon when the committee marks up the annual Pentagon policy bill, the National Defense Authorization Act˳
Because of this critical position, the defense contractors pour money into the reelection campaigns of these members, creating a self-fulfilling feedback loop that many call the “military-industrial-Congressional complex˳” This year, the armed services committees voted to increase the Pentagon budget beyond the President’s $813 billion request for the Pentagon for the coming fiscal year, a $31 billion increase from the previous fiscal year, by an additional $37˳5 billion in the House and $45 billion in the Senate˳
The analysis in this report shows that, in the current election cycle, the military-industrial complex gave $10˳2 million to members of the House and Senate Armed Services Committee prior to their votes this June to increase overall defense spending for FY23˳ (See Table 1˳) The report relies on campaign finance data from OpenSecrets˳org and includes contributions from defense sector employees and PACs to lawmakers’ reelection campaigns and leadership PACs˳
Table 1˳ Defense sector contributions to Armed Services Committee members who voted to increase defense spending, 2022 election cycle˳
Contributions to DemocratsContributions to RepublicansGrand Total House Armed Services Committee$896,508 $2,093,744 $2,990,252 Senate Armed Services Committee$3,579,928 $3,595,164 $7,175,092 Grand Total$4,476,436 $5,688,908 $10,165,344
Source: Public Citizen analysis of campaign finance data from OpenSecrets˳org
The vast majority of these campaign contributions went to members who voted to increase the Pentagon budget above the president’s $813 billion recommendation˳ Specifically, House Armed Services Committee members who voted “yes” to increasing the FY23 Pentagon budget by $37˳5 billion on June 22, 2022, received a total of $3 million from the defense industry in the 2022 election cycle˳ Senate Armed Services Committee members who voted “yes” to increasing the FY23 Pentagon budget by $45 billion on June 16, 2022, received a total of $7˳2 million from the defense industry in the 2022 election cycle˳
Notably, the average campaign contribution from the military-industrial complex to a member of the House or Senate Armed Services Committee who voted “yes” to increase military spending for FY23 is more than triple the average campaign contribution from the military-industrial complex to those who voted “no˳” Those who voted “yes” received average contributions of $151,722˳ Those who voted “no” received average contributions of $42,967˳ (See Table 2˳)
Table 2˳ Defense sector contributions to Senate and House Armed Services Committee members˳
Lawmakers who voted to increase defense funding (number of votes)Lawmakers who voted against increasing defense fundingTotalAverage% of total to lawmakers who voted to increase House Armed Services Committee$2,990,252 (42) $718,534 (17) $3,708,786 (59) $62,861 81% Senate Armed Services Committee$7,175,092 (25) $54,879 (1) $7,229,971 (26) $278,076 99% Total$10,165,344 $773,413 $10,938,757 $128,691 93% Average$151,722 $42,967 $128,691
Source: Public Citizen analysis of campaign finance data from OpenSecrets˳org
If the FY23 Pentagon budget ultimately enacted indeed reaches the amount approved by the Senate Armed Services Committee – an outcome that is likely given the trajectory of the budget in previous years – the defense contractors will have clinched a return on its $10 million investment of nearly 450,000%˳
The military-industrial complex maintains a potent political influence machine that extends far beyond campaign spending, and there’s no reason to doubt that the supporters of more Pentagon spending believe in what they are doing˳ But nor should anyone doubt that military-industrial complex campaign contributions both reward and encourage Congress to shovel money at the Pentagon – even as so many human needs and non-military security interests (like addressing pandemics or climate chaos) remain desperately underfunded˳
Table 3˳ Defense sector contributions to House Armed Services Committee members who voted to increase defense spending, 2022 election cycle (campaign committee and leadership PAC contributions combined)˳
U˳S˳ House RepresentativesPartyContributions Mike Rogers, Alabama, Ranking MemberR$404,525 Rob Wittman, Virginia, Vice Ranking MemberR$237,799 Mike Turner, OhioR$150,950 Joe Courtney, ConnecticutD$131,000 Elaine Luria, Virginia, Vice ChairD$127,743 Jim Banks, IndianaR$117,298 Donald Norcross, New JerseyD$108,000 Don Bacon, NebraskaR$105,733 Michael Waltz, FloridaR$98,221 Sam Graves, MissouriR$82,950 Marc Veasey, TexasD$82,250 James R˳ Langevin, Rhode IslandD$80,505 Liz Cheney, WyomingR$77,476 Mike Gallagher, WisconsinR$77,143 Doug Lamborn, ColoradoR$74,300 Elise Stefanik, New YorkR$74,192 Mikie Sherrill, New JerseyD$71,543 Anthony G˳ Brown, MarylandD$66,750 Mo Brooks, AlabamaR$64,896 Trent Kelly, MississippiR$64,050 Ruben Gallego, ArizonaD$63,053 Vicky Hartzler, MissouriR$62,276 Jack Bergman, MichiganR$58,610 Joe Wilson, South CarolinaR$52,068 Jerry Carl, AlabamaR$45,850 Scott Franklin, FloridaR$43,100 Joe Morelle, New YorkD$43,000 Kai Kahele, HawaiiD$40,650 Stephanie Murphy, FloridaD$38,643 Lisa McClain, MichiganR$36,721 Ronny Jackson, TexasR$36,396 Mike Johnson, LouisianaR$33,900 Blake Moore, UtahR$31,325 Elissa Slotkin, MichiganD$28,883 Austin Scott, GeorgiaR$26,000 Pat Fallon, TexasR$22,125 Steven Horsford, Nevada D$11,015 Mark E˳ Green, TennesseeR$7,359 Matt Gaetz, FloridaR$5,481 Jared Golden, MaineD$3,473 Scott DesJarlais, TennesseeR$3,000 Stephanie Bice, OklahomaR$0 TOTAL$2,990,252
Source: Public Citizen analysis of campaign finance data from OpenSecrets˳org
Table 4˳ Defense sector contributions to Senate Armed Services Committee members who voted in favor of increasing defense spending, 2022 election cycle (campaign committee and leadership PAC contributions combined)˳
U˳S˳ SenatorsPartyContributions Jim Inhofe, Oklahoma, Ranking MemberR$874,876 Jack Reed, Rhode Island, ChairD$822,757 Tim Kaine, VirginiaD$616,152 Jeanne Shaheen, New HampshireD$467,032 Roger Wicker, MississippiR$409,842 Gary Peters, MichiganD$382,832 Dan Sullivan, AlaskaR$355,291 Joni Ernst, IowaR$319,209 Deb Fischer, NebraskaR$296,797 Thom Tillis, North CarolinaR$295,154 Angus King, MaineI$275,600 Tommy Tuberville, AlabamaR$234,100 Mazie Hirono, HawaiiD$233,837 Joe Manchin, West VirginiaD$225,862 Tom Cotton, ArkansasR$214,691 Tammy Duckworth, IllinoisD$174,466 Mike Rounds, South DakotaR$167,154 Jacky Rosen, NevadaD$161,214 Rick Scott, FloridaR$137,213 Marsha Blackburn, TennesseeR$132,267 Richard Blumenthal, ConnecticutD$118,580 Josh Hawley, MissouriR$100,556 Mark Kelly, ArizonaD$67,879 Kevin Cramer, North DakotaR$58,014 Kirsten Gillibrand, New YorkD$33,717 TOTAL$7,175,092
Source: Public Citizen analysis of campaign finance data from OpenSecrets˳org
