GRIFTR
A transparency tool that maps the financial relationships between money and Congress.
Every representative in Congress has a public paper trail — campaign contributions, lobbying disclosures, stock filings, voting records, and more. GRIFTR pulls that data into a single profile so you can see the full picture, not just the press release.
What We Track
Total contributions raised, PAC vs. individual breakdown, top donors, industry sectors, and average contribution size.
FEC — 2024 cycleLobbying spending on issue areas that overlap with a representative's committee assignments. Indirect attribution via jurisdiction — not direct payments.
Senate LDA filingsRoll-call votes, participation rate, yea/nay breakdown, and recent votes with bill context.
Congress.govFinancial disclosure filings required under the STOCK Act. Volume and year-over-year filing activity.
House & Senate disclosure officesFormer congressional staff now registered as lobbyists, the firms they work for, and the issues they lobby on.
Senate LDA filingsOutside spending by PACs and Super PACs for or against a representative, beyond their direct campaign.
FEC — 2024 cycleFinancial Exposure Index (FEI)
The FEI is GRIFTR's composite score that measures how financially entangled a representative is with outside money and influence — relative to their peers in the same chamber. It is a percentile rank, not a dollar amount. A high FEI does not mean corruption. It means more money flows around that representative, which may reflect seniority, committee power, a competitive seat, or a high-profile district.
| Component | What It Measures | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Campaign Finance | Total contributions received vs. chamber median | 25% |
| Lobbying Exposure | Lobbying dollars on issues tied to committee assignments | 25% |
| Bill Exposure | Lobbying money tied to bills the representative voted on | 20% |
| Revolving Door | Former staff now lobbying on behalf of outside interests | 15% |
| Outside Spending | Independent expenditures for and against the representative | 10% |
| Stock Disclosures | Volume of STOCK Act financial disclosure filings | 5% |
Each component is independently ranked within the chamber (Senate vs. House), then combined into a weighted composite. The final score is expressed as a 0–100 percentile. Rank 1 = highest exposure in chamber.
Data Sources
What This Is Not
GRIFTR is not a corruption tracker. Financial exposure is not evidence of wrongdoing. A representative with a high FEI score may simply represent a competitive district, chair an important committee, or have been in office a long time.
Lobbying attribution is indirect. GRIFTR calculates lobbying exposure via committee jurisdiction overlap — it shows which lobbying dollars targeted the policy areas a representative oversees, not money paid directly to them.
GRIFTR has no political affiliation. All 535 members of Congress are covered. The tool applies identical methodology to Democrats, Republicans, and Independents.