The marketing campaign arm of the Senate Democrats at the moment reported elevating greater than $5.3 million within the first half of the 12 months by way of bundled donations from lobbyists and lobbying agency PACs. That quantity is greater than twice as a lot because it has ever disclosed receiving in lobbyist-bundled donations over another six-month interval.
The Democratic Senatorial Marketing campaign Committee (DSCC), which helps the election of Senate Democrats by way of TV adverts and different issues, acquired bundled donations within the first six months of 2023 from 19 registered lobbyists and a handful of PACs, in keeping with a submitting with the Federal Election Fee. Below federal legislation, lobbyist-bundlers have to be reported in the event that they ahead checks price—or are credited with elevating—$21,800 or extra in a 12 months.
The DSCC’s largest lobbyist-bundler this 12 months has been Linda Lipsen, the CEO of trial attorneys advocacy group the American Affiliation for Justice. Lipsen is a registered lobbyist for the group, and within the first half of the 12 months she has lobbied U.S. Senate and Home places of work on dozens of points together with a number of payments that might prohibit compelled arbitration clauses,“Common lobbying with regard to vaccine harm,” and “Draft laws on SLAPP claims.” Lipsen bundled greater than $1.1 million for the DSCC over the primary six months of the 12 months.
The DSCC’s second-largest bundler this 12 months is the PAC of company lobbying large Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck LLP, which raised $610,000. Brownstein is the biggest federal lobbying agency when it comes to revenue, with a consumer listing spanning industries like prescribed drugs, fossil fuels, casinos, and ultra-processed meals. Brownstein’s largest consumer to date this 12 months has been Johnson & Johnson, for which it has been lobbying Congress on “Points associated to affected person entry, “Points associated to patents,” and “Laws associated to competitors and mental property points.”
Lobbyist Alexandra Burns, president of the agency Bay Bridge Methods, raised $578,200 for the DSCC. Bay Bridge Methods has lobbied this 12 months for Silicon Valley enterprise capital agency Kleiner Perkins, healthcare data know-how firm Lumeri, and hydrogen firm Bloom Power. The one account Burns has personally been on this 12 months is Bloom Power, which is lobbying Congress on implementation of the Inflation Discount Act and the Infrastructure Funding and Jobs Act.
Sarah Egge, principal and founding companion of SplitOak Methods, has bundled $187,658 for the DSCC this 12 months. Egge’s shoppers are primarily within the pharmaceutical trade and embody Alkermes, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Johnson & Johnson. Egge additionally lobbies for the assume tank Bipartisan Coverage Heart on healthcare points together with pandemic preparedness, addressing the opioid epidemic, and meals as drugs.
The DSCC’s Republican counterpart, the Nationwide Republican Senatorial Committee, doesn’t disclose lobbyist bundled donations to the FEC, nor do another Republican Celebration teams. It’s unclear whether or not the Republican Celebration teams obtain bundled donations from lobbyists, however authorities ethics lobbyist Craig Holman instructed Sludge in April of final 12 months, “It may very properly be that the Republicans are merely flouting the legislation.”
Holman, who says he helped to jot down the bundling disclosure legislation, says that the FEC has considerably weakened it with loopholes within the rulemaking course of.
“The FEC permits lobbyist-bundlers to evade the reporting threshold by subdividing the edge among the many variety of lobbyists sponsoring the bundling occasion,” Holman stated. “If 5 lobbyists sponsor a bundling occasion that brings in $25,000, beneath the FEC rule every lobbyist is barely answerable for $5,000 of the bundled contribution, thus all fall beneath the reporting threshold.”
Since lobbyist-bundling disclosure started in 2009, the DSCC has reported receiving almost $33 million in lobbyist-bundled donations.
The DSCC, which is chaired by Michigan Democratic Sen. Gary Peters, didn’t reply to a request for remark.
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