Bernard Sanders
Independent
· VT Senate · 119th Congress
and Family Policy (Chair) · Senate Committee on Health (Chair) · and Pensions (Chair) · Senate Committee on the Budget (Chair) · Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources · Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works · Waste Management · Environmental Justice · and Regulatory Oversight · and Nuclear Innovation and Safety · and Nuclear Safety · and Wildlife · and Water · Senate Committee on Finance · Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs
Influence Score
51.8
Moderately exposed
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This score measures financial influence across twelve categories. Each bar shows how this member compares to all others in Congress. Longer bars mean more exposure.
Score breakdown — twelve categories
Contributionsmoney from PACs (political action committees) and individual donors
0.7
/ 12
Outside spendingmoney spent by groups to help elect them
0.0
/ 6
Lobbyinghow hard lobbyists push the committees this member sits on
10.0
/ 10
Revolving door
former staff now working as lobbyists
0.0
/ 3
Vote alignmenthow often they vote the way their donors want
5.8
/ 12
Contribution timingmoney arriving near key votes
0.2
/ 6
Stock tradesbuying stocks in industries they regulate
0.0
/ 1
Dark moneyfunding from groups that hide their donors
0.0
/ 2
Outbound money distributionmoney this member sends out to the party and to colleagues
11.3
/ 16
Cluster network breadthhow many coordinated funding networks back this member
0.8
/ 10
Committee jurisdiction powerthe legislative reach of the committees this member sits on
7.7
/ 10
Foreign interestforeign-interest money — Israel-policy PACs and FARA-registered institutional lobbying allocated by committee jurisdiction
5.0
/ 12
Israel-policy PACs behind this score
JSTREETPAC
$3,000 direct
FARA institutional lobbying
This member’s committees are targeted by $220.91M in lobbying from FARA-registered firms representing South Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia. This exposure is weighted at 0.2% of face value in the score — $442K.
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Score across four congresses
Score and tier for each Congress. Members are ranked against others in the same Congress, so tiers are comparable across rows. Raw scores reflect different data availability per Congress.
| Congress | Score | Tier |
|---|---|---|
| 116th · 2019-2021 | 73.4 | Highly exposed |
| 117th · 2021-2023 | 57.8 | Moderately exposed |
| 118th · 2023-2025 | 39.3 | Least exposed |
| 119th · 2025-2027 | 51.8 | Moderately exposed |
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Biggest funding source
The single network behind the most money and influence
Total money from this network
$20,000
Number of funding networks contributing
1
— ◊ —
Who funds Sanders
Every funding network we can measure, ranked by influence
$115,224
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Does the money match their power?
Whether their money comes from the industries their committees actually oversee
Money from industries they regulate
0.1%
Extra weight when money matches their committees
2.00×
Share of outside spending tied to their policy areas
0.0%
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Money timed to key votes
Donations arriving near key votes in the policy areas this member regulates
Times money arrived near a vote
3
Money that arrived near votes
$5K
Distinct donors
4
Distinct employers
3
Share of their total fundraising
0.14%
Biggest clusters of timed money
ELLA FINANCIAL ADVISING
$3K
SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITY
$1K
THE EVERETT CLINIC UNITED HEALTH
$1K
IU HEALTH PHYSICIANS
$500
STEPHENS
$500
FIDELITY INVESTMENTS
$369
GE HEALTHCARE
$270
NORTHWESTERN MEDICINE
$270
JP MORGAN
$250
STANFORD UNIVERSITY
$150
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Top Donors
Biggest sources of contributions, grouped by employer, this cycle
GOOGLE
$14K
GOOGLE
$13K
TA INSTRUMENTS
$13K
NVIDIA
$13K
GOOGLE
$13K
UCLA
$10K
APPLE
$10K
AMAZON
$8K
MICROSOFT
$8K
APPLE
$8K
USERNODE LABS AG
$8K
MICROSOFT
$7K
STANFORD UNIVERSITY
$7K
MERITAGE
$7K
KAISER PERMANENTE
$6K
KNOX EQUITY
$6K
META
$6K
TUSK
$6K
NVIDIA
$6K
NEW AFFINITY CONCEPTS
$5K
Where the outside money comes from
How much of the outside spending for and against Bernard Sanders comes from groups that disclose their donors versus groups that hide them
By funding network
FUTURE45
$1.66M
ARIZONANS FOR AFFORDABLE ELECTRICITY
$573K
PATRIOT VOICES PAC
$6K
DEMOCRACY PAC
$72
NEA ADVOCACY FUND
$68
SIERRA CLUB INDEPENDENT ACTION
$10
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Pro-Israel network donors
This counts contributions to this member from individuals whose FEC filings also show contributions to one of the 16 pro-Israel political action committees tracked by the Index. It is a measure of donor overlap — not a claim about why any individual gave, and not part of the influence score.
17 individuals who also gave to pro-Israel PACs contributed $16K to Bernard Sanders across 69 contributions.
Total from shared contributors
$16K
Shared contributors
17
Contributions
69
By cycle
| Cycle | Shared donors | Gifts | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 7 | 19 | $2K |
| 2024 | 8 | 21 | $4K |
| 2026 | 8 | 29 | $9K |
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Bernard Sanders sits in the middle of this Congress on the index. There is a measured sponsor relationship, but the vote-alignment signal is weaker — money flows; the votes do not follow in lockstep.
Data: FEC (Federal Election Commission) filings · 118th–119th Congress · lobbying disclosures · VoteView recorded votes
All findings derived programmatically from public records · No prior knowledge required
All findings derived programmatically from public records · No prior knowledge required