Politics

Who's Bankrolling the Super Committee: House Democrats

The financial backers of the Super Committee's Democratic Congressmen

By John Hudson
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This article is from the archive of our partner .

...And the Super Committee is complete! This afternoon, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi selected Reps. James Clyburn, Xavier Becerra, and Chris Van Hollen to serve on the 12-member deficit-slashing Super Committee. By November 23, the lawmakers will have to find $1.5 trillion in deficit cuts and, in the meantime, will be subject to an army of lobbyists and special interest groups. As such, we thought it'd be pertinent to know what corporations and advocacy groups have been bankrolling the lawmakers' campaigns.

James Clyburn By a large margin the top industry giving to this South Carolina Democrat is the legal profession, which has given him $687,785. Other top industry contributors include transportation unions, electric utilities and public sector unions, according to the non-partisan transparency group Sunlight Foundation. In terms of specific contributors, his top four are from United Parcel Service, MacHinists/Aerospace Workers Union, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, National Education Association and the Teamsters Union. By comparison to a number of other candidates, Clyburn receives a high amount of his money from PACs as opposed to individuals.

Xavier Becerra A big industry donor to this California Democrat is health professionals with $687,389 going to his campaign coffers. Other top industries include TV/movies/music/, lawyers/law firms and insurance, according to the Sunlight Foundation. In terms of specific contributors, his biggest organization and business donors are the United Parcel Service, United Food & Commercial Workers Union and United Auto Workers. Here's a breakdown of Becerra's contributors by industry:

Chris Van Hollen The friendliest industries to this Maryland Democrat include lawyers/law firms, retired people, public sector unions and health professionals. His biggest contributors include the lobbying firm Arent Fox et al, Arnold & Porter and AEPCO Inc. As you can see, Arent Fox has been a very generous contributor to the congressman:

See our complete list of financial backers of the super committee members below:

This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.