So WHO does our Representatives really represent? Not a lot of difference between D's, and R's.
More than two-thirds of Congress cashed a pharma campaign check in 2020, new STAT analysis shows
Lev Facher
By Lev Facher
June 9, 2021
Interactives by Kaitlyn Bartley
STAT
WASHINGTON — Seventy-two senators and 302 members of the House of Representatives cashed a check from the pharmaceutical industry ahead of the 2020 election — representing more than two-thirds of Congress, according to a new STAT analysis of records for the full election cycle.
Pfizer’s political action committee alone contributed to 228 lawmakers. Amgen’s PAC donated to 218, meaning that each company helped to fund the campaigns of nearly half the lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Overall, the sector donated $14 million
The breadth of the spending highlights the drug industry’s continued clout in Washington. Even after years of criticism from Congress and the White House over high prices, it remains routine for the elected officials who regulate the health care industry to accept six-figure sums.
The findings, published in a new STAT examination of the drug industry’s political giving, also come on the heels of an extraordinary year for the pharmaceutical industry. In 2020, the federal government leaned heavily on drug makers to develop Covid-19 vaccines at lightning speed — helping to rehabilitate the industry’s reputation and political credibility in the process.
STAT’s analysis show
Donations from companies like Pfizer and Amgen are among the most visibly widespread.
Pfizer, which played arguably the biggest role in 2020’s vaccine race, also had a frenzied year politically. In addition to giving roughly $1 million to members of Congress, Pfizer also wrote checks to 1,048 individual candidates in state legislative races.
Related: Pharma funded more than 2,400 state lawmaker campaigns in 2020, new STAT analysis finds
While the drug industry gave money to a broad range of candidates, it focused in particular on those on key committees that oversee health care legislation.
The top recipient of drug industry cash was Rep. Richard Hudson, a Republican from North Carolina. Major drug industry groups donated $139,500 to his most recent campaign, a sum remarkable in large part because Hudson is not a particularly powerful lawmaker, nor a known fundraiser. He does hold a seat on the Energy and Commerce Health subcommittee, an influential panel that oversees a large share of health care legislation before Congress.
Related: Pharma showers Menendez with rare, off-cycle burst of campaign cash as Democrats eye drug pricing reforms
Other committee members also ranked near the top in drug company donations, including several Democrats: Reps. Kurt Schrader (Ore.), Robin Kelly (Ill.), and Anna Eshoo (Calif.), the subcommittee chair.
Industry allies like Sens. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.) were also among the top recipients of pharma money. Both hold seats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which oversees intellectual property law. In 2019, the pair authored a bill that would expand on the drug industry’s patent protections.
The donations came on the heels of Democrats’ aggressive drug pricing push in 2019. Led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Democrats passed H.R. 3, the Lower Drug Costs Now Act. If passed, the bill could have cost the industry as much as $500 billion in revenue, but it was never taken up by the GOP-controlled Senate.
Related: Trump campaign’s Facebook ad blitz casts Biden as pharma’s preferred candidate
Drug industry lobbyists viewed Republicans’ control of the Senate as critical to the industry’s interests. But after a pair of January runoff elections in Georgia, Democrats control the chamber: Their 50 seats, plus the tie-breaking vote of Vice President Kamala Harris, give the party a razor-thin majority.
Despite the drug industry’s apparent interest in preventing Democrats from controlling both Congress and the White House, contributions were almost evenly split between major political parties: $7.1 million went to Republicans, and $6.6 million went to Democrats.
NEW dem repub
ALEX HOGAN/STAT
But several top Republicans, like Sen. Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and Rep. Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) — the GOP leaders of the Senate and House, respectively — also ranked in the top 15 of all recipients.
As was the case in state legislatures, the pharmaceutical industry was remarkably effective when it came to spending money on winning candidates. Very few candidates who accepted drug industry cash ended up losing reelection. Many donations targeted Republican senators at risk of losing their seats, like Tillis. Other top recipients included GOP Sens. Joni Ernst (Iowa), John Cornyn (Texas), and Steve Daines (Mont.).
