That kind of transparency could help companies next year as corporate-linked political spending and influence campaigns, including donations to projects favored by President Donald Trump, are likely to be atop the congressional investigations agenda if Democrats win control of the House or Senate in the midterm elections.
“Everyone supports some form of regulation. It’s just a debate about how much,”
At a time of escalating political risk for companies, the Center for Political Accountability has unveiled a new way to track the reputational risks for companies that have donated to Donald Trump’s various pet projects.
Corporate political spending has reached record levels. Companies have reported more than $520 million in spending to influence federal elections so far in the 2026 midterm cycle, surpassing the $461 million disclosed during the entire 2024 cycle and nearly tripling the $184.1 million reported in the last midterm cycle, in 2022.
The pair have so far slightly favored Republicans, who received $2.7 million, with Democrats taking the remainder. Just over a third of the total cash went to state-level groups backing candidates for governor, attorney general and state legislatures, according to an analysis by the Center for Political Accountability (CPA), a transparency nonprofit.
“I’ve not seen such as formalized engagement through a presidential election engagement committee. My reading is this is an AI company effort aimed at shaping or staving off government regulation or oversight.”
“Money is important, but it’s not everything,” said Bruce Freed, the president of the Center for Political Accountability. “Public angst, deep public concern, can offset the type of money advantage—or at least mitigate some of the money advantage—that you’re seeing today.”
“I think the reason why you have such spending is because the stakes are so high,” said Bruce Freed, president and a founder of the Center for Political Accountability.