Congressional candidates in key regulatory positions and competitive races are receiving big money from defense contractors and their top executives as the United States’ war with Iran continues, according to a NOTUS analysis of Federal Election Commission documents.
The defense industry spent millions on political contributions from Jan. 1 to March 31, the analysis of hundreds of FEC documents found.
Some of the lawmakers who have received the most contributions from defense interests sit on key congressional committees that routinely make decisions that profoundly affect the financial fortunes of military contractors. For example, Congress is tasked with scrutinizing the Pentagon’s $1.5 trillion budget request for 2027 — a nearly $500 billion increase.
Rep. Ken Calvert chairs the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, which is charged with drafting the Defense Department’s budget. The Republican is running in a competitive race after California Democrats gerrymandered his district, and his campaign committee received more than $200,000 during the first three months of 2026 from defense contractor PACs and direct contributions from top defense executives, according to FEC records.
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On March 2 and March 3, days after the Iran war began, Calvert received two $1,000 donations from leaders at military vehicle manufacturer AM General: Darrell Duckworth, an executive director, and Chief Financial Officer Ryan DuRussel. The political action committees of Lockheed Martin and RTX, Raytheon’s parent company, donated $5,000 each on March 4 and March 9, respectively.
“Rep. Calvert appreciates the support he receives from a wide variety of Americans. His votes and actions are always based on what he believes is in the best interest of the constituents he represents and all Americans,” Calvert senior congressional adviser Jason Gagnon wrote to NOTUS in a statement.
PACs tied to 11 defense contractors including Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Leidos, RTX, Anduril contributed about $4.7 million to federal political campaigns and political party committees from Jan. 1 through March 31, according to NOTUS’ analysis of FEC reports.
“Our employee PAC program continues to observe long-standing principles of non-partisan political engagement in support of our business interests,” a spokesperson for Lockheed Martin told NOTUS.
The Lockheed Martin employee PAC contributed about $1.2 million to political committees during 2026’s first quarter.
“Our PAC supports candidates on a bipartisan basis, including members of Congress who play key roles in shaping national security and defense policy. Our contributions reflect the importance of engaging with policymakers who help sustain a strong, innovative, and resilient defense industrial base,” a Leidos spokesperson told NOTUS. Leidos’ PAC spent about $370,000 on political contributions last quarter.
None of the other companies contacted for this story responded to requests for comment.
House Armed Services Committee Chair Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama received $68,000 last quarter through his campaign. Rogers, a Republican who oversees the National Defense Authorization Act, has said he’s focused on making it easier for new defense firms such as Anduril and ShieldAI to secure defense contracts. Palmer Luckey, co-founder of Anduril, donated $7,000 to Rogers’ campaign in March.
Rogers did not respond to a request for comment.
Rep. Adam Smith of Washington, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, took in even more defense cash through his congressional committee: about $130,000 from industry PACs and executives.
Smith accepted $7,000 from Anduril co-founder and CEO Brian Schimpf, $1,000 from RTX Vice President of State and Local Government Relations Peter Holland and $1,000 from BAE Systems Vice President of Strategy Chris Rappa.
Smith’s campaign also accepted $5,000 contributions from PACs tied to defense contractors Northrop Grumman, SpaceX and Leonardo DRS.
“I have opposed the Iran War since before it started and I oppose the $1.5 trillion defense budget increase. No contribution changes that. I’ve spent decades pushing back on wasteful defense spending and challenging entrenched interests in the Pentagon,” Smith wrote in an email to NOTUS.
“Legal, transparent campaign contributions don’t change how I vote or what I fight for. That position doesn’t move based on who’s contributing to my campaign,” he added. “The question is whether your representative delivers independent judgment. I’ll put my record up against anyone’s.”
Some Democrats have sworn off corporate PAC money, but most of them still accept it.
The campaign committee of Rep. Betty McCollum, the top Democrat on the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, received about $64,000 from defense industry PACs during the first three months of this year.
Among these donations, McCollum accepted $5,000 from AM General on March 5 and a $3,500 donation from Luckey on March 17.
McCollum, who represents a district in Minnesota, did not respond to a request for comment.
Defense contractor executives such as Anduril co-founders Luckey and Schimpf donated a combined $80,000 to Republican and Democratic federal-level committees during the year’s first three months.
Shyam Sankar, chief technology officer and executive vice president for data analytics company and defense contractor Palantir, donated a combined $60,000 to nearly a dozen Republican lawmakers. Palantir has large contracts with government entities such as the Defense Department and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Among its products: highly sophisticated military software such as Maven Smart Systems, which process classified data to help plan military strikes.
Other powerful Democrats also accepted large sums from defense contractors, including Rep. Pete Aguilar of California, the House Democratic Caucus chair, and Rep. Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, the House Democratic whip.
Aguilar accepted nearly $90,000 from defense contractor PACs including L3Harris, Lockheed Martin, RTX and BAE Systems through his congressional campaign. In early February, Palantir executive Mehdi Alhassani donated $1,000 to Aguilar. Don Burnette, CEO of Kodiak AI, a company that develops AI-powered autonomous vehicles for the military, donated $2,500.
Clark’s campaign accepted about $40,000 last quarter from the PACs of defense contractors such as Boeing, Parsons and Cummins. Her campaign also accepted donations from defense executives such as Anduril’s Schimpf, who contributed $3,500, and Lockheed Martin attorney Beth Kramer, who contributed $2,000.
Aguilar and Clark did not respond to requests for comment.
Democratic Rep. Susie Lee of Nevada, who sits on the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, accepted $73,000 from defense contractor PACs during the first three months of this year. This includes $4,000 from the PAC of Northrop Grumman and $1,000 from the PAC of BAE Systems on March 5. Lee’s campaign committee also accepted $7,000 from Fatih Ozmen, CEO of Sierra Nevada, an aerospace engineering and defense company.
“Congresswoman Lee and her constituents agree — no one wants another forever war. That’s why she has voted to remove American troops from hostilities twice and supported efforts to force additional votes to end the war,” Catherine Clancy, a spokesperson for Lee, told NOTUS in a statement.
Rep. Ed Case, a Hawaii Democrat who also sits on the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, accepted nearly $60,000 in defense cash from Jan. 1 through March 31, through his campaign.
Several contributions came in early March during the Iran war’s first days, such as $2,500 from Amanda Miller, an executive at Shift5, a military cybersecurity firm. Case’s committee also received $7,000 from a PAC tied to Blue Origin, the space engineering company owned by multibillionaire Jeff Bezos, which received billions for defense-related space launches.
Republicans running in challenging congressional races have also received significant defense-related contributions.
The campaign of Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee and is expected to face upstart Democrat Graham Platner, accepted more than $100,000 from defense contractors, including $4,500 from PACs tied to L3Harris and $7,000 from RTX’s PAC.
Collins, who did not respond to a request for comment, also received $2,000 from Michael Ruettgers, lead director at Raytheon; $2,500 from Tim Prince, an RTX vice president; and $5,000 from Art Cameron, executive vice president of global government relations at RTX.
The campaign of Republican Rep. Rob Wittman of Virginia, vice chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, accepted $95,000 in defense-related contributions during the first three months of 2026.
Wittman, who faces a tough reelection campaign after Virginia Democrats gerrymandered his district, received $4,000 from the PAC of Anduril, $5,000 from the PAC of Textron and $10,000 each from the PACs of RTX and Booz Allen Hamilton.
And Sen. Dan Sullivan, a Senate Armed Services Committee member whose Alaska seat is being challenged by former Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola, accepted $41,000 through his Senate campaign, including $7,000 from Palantir’s Sankar and $7,000 from Anduril’s Luckey.
None of these Republicans’ offices returned a request for comment.
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