Congress’ second full-time job? Fundraising.
Given the pervasive influence of campaign fundraising on election outcomes, while sitting members of Congress have legislative, oversight, and direct constituent responsibilities, those who run for reelection also face the demands of a second full-time job: raising campaign cash. This fundraising treadmill comes at a steep cost; hours spent dialing for dollars divert the time and attention of members away from serving the American people.
I took a deep dive into the recently filed end of year federal campaign finance reports that provided the final piece of the puzzle in understanding just how much money flowed to and from campaigns during the 2024 election cycle. My analysis highlights the massive sums raised by members of the 118th Congress between January 2023 and December 2024.
Numbers to Know
In the Senate, senators who ran for reelection in 2024 combined to raise $618 million. The typical senator who ran for reelection in November 2024 raised $11.1 million — an average of about $15,300 per day and 6.4 times the amount raised by a senator not up for reelection.
Fundraising in the 2024 election cycle by members of the House of Representatives broke records. Those who ran for reelection in the 2024 election collectively raised $1.2 billion — up from $1.1 billion in the 2022 election cycle. The typical House member who ran for reelection in November 2024 raised $2.1 million — an average of about $2,900 per day. Freshman House members raised even more, a median of $2.4 million — an average of about $3,300 per day. And what’s more, House members who ran for reelection in “toss-up” races, which are highly competitive, raised even more – a median of $7.9 million, an average of about $10,900 per day and a 50% increase from 2022.
The increases in campaign cash raised by the 118th Congress from the years prior signifies that the dollars raised and hours spent fundraising by Congress have not slowed down.
But this isn’t a new phenomenon. It’s an open secret that members of Congress are encouraged to spend significant amounts of their time fundraising while also holding the powerful responsibility of serving their constituents. All the while, Americans hold highly unpopular attitudes about Congress. In 2023, the Pew Research Center found that 72% of Americans had an unfavorable view of Congress and 60% expressed low levels of confidence that Congress cared about the people they represented. Among the leading issues Americans identified with their elected officials? The influence of money.
Slowing the Fundraising Treadmill?
Despite these harrowing trends, members of Congress on both sides of the aisle have united to propose bipartisan solutions to step off of the fundraising treadmill in recent years. In 2022, Reps. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and Dean Phillips (D-MN) introduced a bipartisan bill that would have prohibited lawmakers from fundraising while Congress is in session. And in 2016, a similar bill was introduced by a bipartisan cohort of legislators, led by Rep. David Jolly (R-FL), which would have banned members of Congress from personally soliciting campaign contributions.
Such legislation could reform how members of Congress fundraise for reelection campaigns and increase the amount of time dedicated to their constituents so that our government responds to the interest and needs of the American people — not just those pulling the purse strings.
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