The defense industry is the biggest supporter of the Sedition Caucus

While corporations and industry groups have given more than $100 million to support the Sedition Caucus since January 6th, one sector is particularly generous with anti-democratic lawmakers: the defense industry.

Of the top 40 companies that have given the most to the Sedition Caucus—the 147 members of Congress who voted against certifying the 2020 election, along with Donald Trump, as well as those who have since been elected to Congress while promoting the Big Lie—ten belong to the defense industry. Collectively, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, General Dynamics, Honeywell, RTX Corporation (formerly Raytheon), Northrop Grumman, L3Harris Technologies, BAE Systems, General Atomics, and Leidos have given more than $6 million to seditionist lawmakers since January 6th. These contributions significantly exceed the total amount given by the big political spenders of other major industries: of the 40 biggest donors to the Sedition Caucus, six companies belong to the oil and gas sector and five belong to financial services. They have donated $4.1 million and $2.5 million to the Sedition Caucus respectively. 

In the aftermath of January 6th, many of the largest defense companies condemned the violence, affirmed a commitment to upholding democracy and linked their political spending to that support. Defense companies and industry groups emphasized the importance of the “peaceful transition of power” as a “hallmark of democracy,” and described the Capitol attack as a display of “anarchy and violence.” Boeing pledged to “carefully evaluate future contributions to ensure that we support those who not only support our company, but also uphold our country’s most fundamental principles.” Other defense companies that made commitments to pause spending include BAE Systems, RTX, and Honeywell.

Although these statements did not single out any specific lawmakers, the implication was clear: those lawmakers who stoked the flames of election fraud lies and refused to certify the election had threatened the fundamental tenets of our democracy. Companies could not, in good conscience, financially support the campaigns and leadership PACs of these lawmakers with that in mind.

Just months later, defense companies began donating again to those same lawmakers who threatened the peaceful transition of power. Today, these companies have become some of the Sedition Caucus’ most reliable and generous donors. Since January 6th, the top ten defense companies have donated $6.78 million to the campaign and leadership committees of seditionist lawmakers.

But it’s not just about how much money these defense companies are giving, it’s who they’re giving to specifically. CREW’s recent Bankrolling the Big Lie report uses a methodology that assesses companies not only on how much they donate to members of the Sedition Caucus, but also by the relative extremity of the lawmakers to whom they’ve given. Defense companies fill some of the top spots, meaning that these companies are donating to lawmakers who have done harm to our democracy in ways beyond voting against certifying the 2020 election, including support for absolute presidential immunity, support for Texas Attorney General Paxton’s lawsuit to undermine the 2020 election results in key battleground states and by voting against important accountability measures including Trump’s second impeachment and the creation of the January 6th Investigative Committee.

Lockheed Martin is ranked as the fourth worst company in terms of their campaign donations demonstrating their support—or lack thereof—for democracy, according to our analysis. Since January 6th, Lockheed has given $1 million dollars to the campaigns and leadership PACs of 118 members of the Sedition Caucus, and the company has been particularly generous with those members who have committed relatively extreme violations against democratic principles. Of the six lawmakers with the worst records in this area, Lockheed has donated a total of $39,000 to four of them– Representatives Chuck Fleischmann ($14,500), William Timmons ($11,500), Glenn Thompson ($9,000) and Mike Kelly ($4,000).

Lockheed is also one of Rep. Elise Stefanik’s largest corporate backers, giving a total of $29,500 to her campaign committee. On the day of the insurrection, Stefanik issued a statement that perpetuated lies about election fraud, including the blatantly false claim that in Fulton County Georgia “more than 140,000 votes came from underage, deceased, and otherwise unauthorized voters.” Although Lockheed initially paused its political spending in response to the Capitol attack, the company contributed to Stefanik’s campaign just a few months later. Since then, Stefanik has refused to commit to certifying the 2024 election results, referred to January 6th defendants as “hostages,” and said that if she were in former Vice President Mike Pence’s position during the certification process of the 2020 election, she would not have certified the results.

Boeing is the sixth worst corporate PAC overall in terms of campaign spending and support for democracy and the second worst defense company. Boeing has donated $964,500 to 103 members of the Sedition Caucus. Boeing is a top supporter of Senator Ted Cruz ($10,000). Cruz led the charge to file an amicus brief in the Trump v. Anderson case on behalf of 177 Republicans in Congress, asking the Court to reverse the lower court’s decision that held Trump accountable for his incitement of the insurrection. Cruz has since criticized other efforts to hold Trump accountable, calling the criminal investigations and charges brought against Trump in the past year an “enormous abuse of power” that constitutes “persecution.”

Despite promising to only make contributions to those who “uphold our country’s most fundamental principles,” Boeing has also given $35,000 to Speaker Mike Johnson, who played a critical role in challenging the presidential transition of power in the aftermath of the 2020 election. Johnson helped to develop a legal defense for contesting the 2020 election that many Republicans eventually cited in order to discount Biden electors. Johnson has also attempted to make it harder to hold insurrectionists accountable for the Capitol attack. When releasing footage of the insurrection to the public, Johnson, alongside other House Republicans, decided to blur the faces of rioters to protect them from being charged by the Department of Justice.

Overall, these ten major defense companies have donated $108,000 to the six lawmakers with the worst democracy records. Of those six lawmakers, Rep. Chuck Fleischmann received the most donations ($64,500) with the largest donations coming from Leidos ($15,500) and Lockheed Martin ($14,500). During the 2020 election, Fleischmann parroted Trump’s false claims of widespread voter fraud, and voted against certifying the 2020 election. He released a statement which said, “Just as President Donald Trump has said all along, universal mail-in voting provides opportunity for voter fraud, and that’s been apparent throughout this election.” Fleischmann is a member of the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. 

Of Sedition Caucus members, Rep. Ken Calvert was the top recipient of political donations by nine of the top ten companies. Calvert has repeatedly undermined efforts to increase government accountability and transparency, in addition to amplifying false accusations of widespread voter fraud during the 2020 election. The day after the January 6th attack, Calvert released a press statement that spent two sentences condemning the use of violence and the next 14 emphasizing “alleged voter fraud or irregularities” in the election and characterizing judges who ruled on ballot deadline issues at the time of the election as usurpers. Calvert is the Chairman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, which is responsible for the Department of Defense’s roughly $830 billion budget. In total, these companies have donated $348,500 to Rep. Calvert’s campaign and leadership PACs. 

Rep. Brian Babin was also popular among top defense companies, receiving $18,500 from Lockheed, $11,500 from RTX, $10,500 from Boeing, and $10,000 from Honeywell. Babin repeatedly used his platform to spread lies about election fraud. In his characterization of the 2020 election, Babin said that it was a “fraudulent and criminal election process” and that “tens of millions of Americans were disenfranchised.” Babin claimed that mail-in voting was a “danger to democracy,” and he justified his objection to the certification of the 2020 election by describing his vote as a refusal to “surrender to tyranny.” In a speech on the House floor he said, “If there was no fraud, simply show us the proof, investigate it, validate it.” Of course, by this time, the allegations of fraud had already been investigated in 30 different court cases and found to be baseless on the merits. Babin is the Chairman of the Space & Aeronautics Subcommittee.

All companies have a financial interest in protecting democracy. But the defense industry is uniquely tied to the issue. Defense companies often boast about advancing freedom as a central part of their purpose. “At Northrop Grumman, we pioneer #technology to protect our freedom and advance humanity,” the company tweeted. Companies like Boeing and Lockheed Martin proudly remind the public of the role they played in “the Arsenal of Democracy,” referring to the collective efforts of American companies in expanding manufacturing to support the US and allied powers during World War II. “If innovation is our company’s beating heart, purpose is our soul,” wrote Lockheed Martin’s then-CEO Marillyn Hewson in the foreword of the book Innovation with Purpose. “We’re at our best when we’re working to make the world a better place through technology…Looking ahead to our next 100 years, we’re honored to do our part to shape the future,” she added. Political spending to seditionist lawmakers, however, undermines these sentiments. A commitment to democracy must be more than a statement, a tweet or a signal of intent. 

Header illustration by Caleb Chen/CREW | Photo by Tyler Merbler via a Creative Commons license