Military-Industrial Complex Clinches Nearly 450,000% Return on Investment
After Industry Gives $10 Million to Congressional Defense Committee Members, DOD Receives Potential $45 Billion Spending Increase
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 Democrats | Contributions to Republicans | Grand 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 funding | Total | Average | % 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 Representatives | Party | Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| Mike Rogers, Alabama, Ranking Member | R | $404,525 |
| Rob Wittman, Virginia, Vice Ranking Member | R | $237,799 |
| Mike Turner, Ohio | R | $150,950 |
| Joe Courtney, Connecticut | D | $131,000 |
| Elaine Luria, Virginia, Vice Chair | D | $127,743 |
| Jim Banks, Indiana | R | $117,298 |
| Donald Norcross, New Jersey | D | $108,000 |
| Don Bacon, Nebraska | R | $105,733 |
| Michael Waltz, Florida | R | $98,221 |
| Sam Graves, Missouri | R | $82,950 |
| Marc Veasey, Texas | D | $82,250 |
| James R. Langevin, Rhode Island | D | $80,505 |
| Liz Cheney, Wyoming | R | $77,476 |
| Mike Gallagher, Wisconsin | R | $77,143 |
| Doug Lamborn, Colorado | R | $74,300 |
| Elise Stefanik, New York | R | $74,192 |
| Mikie Sherrill, New Jersey | D | $71,543 |
| Anthony G. Brown, Maryland | D | $66,750 |
| Mo Brooks, Alabama | R | $64,896 |
| Trent Kelly, Mississippi | R | $64,050 |
| Ruben Gallego, Arizona | D | $63,053 |
| Vicky Hartzler, Missouri | R | $62,276 |
| Jack Bergman, Michigan | R | $58,610 |
| Joe Wilson, South Carolina | R | $52,068 |
| Jerry Carl, Alabama | R | $45,850 |
| Scott Franklin, Florida | R | $43,100 |
| Joe Morelle, New York | D | $43,000 |
| Kai Kahele, Hawaii | D | $40,650 |
| Stephanie Murphy, Florida | D | $38,643 |
| Lisa McClain, Michigan | R | $36,721 |
| Ronny Jackson, Texas | R | $36,396 |
| Mike Johnson, Louisiana | R | $33,900 |
| Blake Moore, Utah | R | $31,325 |
| Elissa Slotkin, Michigan | D | $28,883 |
| Austin Scott, Georgia | R | $26,000 |
| Pat Fallon, Texas | R | $22,125 |
| Steven Horsford, Nevada | D | $11,015 |
| Mark E. Green, Tennessee | R | $7,359 |
| Matt Gaetz, Florida | R | $5,481 |
| Jared Golden, Maine | D | $3,473 |
| Scott DesJarlais, Tennessee | R | $3,000 |
| Stephanie Bice, Oklahoma | R | $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. Senators | Party | Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| Jim Inhofe, Oklahoma, Ranking Member | R | $874,876 |
| Jack Reed, Rhode Island, Chair | D | $822,757 |
| Tim Kaine, Virginia | D | $616,152 |
| Jeanne Shaheen, New Hampshire | D | $467,032 |
| Roger Wicker, Mississippi | R | $409,842 |
| Gary Peters, Michigan | D | $382,832 |
| Dan Sullivan, Alaska | R | $355,291 |
| Joni Ernst, Iowa | R | $319,209 |
| Deb Fischer, Nebraska | R | $296,797 |
| Thom Tillis, North Carolina | R | $295,154 |
| Angus King, Maine | I | $275,600 |
| Tommy Tuberville, Alabama | R | $234,100 |
| Mazie Hirono, Hawaii | D | $233,837 |
| Joe Manchin, West Virginia | D | $225,862 |
| Tom Cotton, Arkansas | R | $214,691 |
| Tammy Duckworth, Illinois | D | $174,466 |
| Mike Rounds, South Dakota | R | $167,154 |
| Jacky Rosen, Nevada | D | $161,214 |
| Rick Scott, Florida | R | $137,213 |
| Marsha Blackburn, Tennessee | R | $132,267 |
| Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut | D | $118,580 |
| Josh Hawley, Missouri | R | $100,556 |
| Mark Kelly, Arizona | D | $67,879 |
| Kevin Cramer, North Dakota | R | $58,014 |
| Kirsten Gillibrand, New York | D | $33,717 |
| TOTAL | $7,175,092 |
Source: Public Citizen analysis of campaign finance data from OpenSecrets.org