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Is it a conflict of interest for lawmakers required to determine and approve funding for the largest military in the history of the world to hold stock in the companies contracted to arm and equip that military?
That’s what a team of investigative reporters at Sludge aimed to find out, and in an analysis of 2023 fiscal year disclosures, they found that over 50 members of Congress, or their spouses, children, or trusts managed on their behalf, own stock in defense contractors in total worth $10.9 million.
The report bears witness to something that most Americans will have long suspected, or grown to suspect, is occurring on Capitol Hill, but the scope and blatancy of this corruption will perhaps surprise some.
For example, of the 13 senators who were identified as owning substantial stock positions in defense contractors, 3 are on the Committee on Armed Services and 5 are members of the Committee on Appropriations, with 2 of those sitting on the Subcommittee for Defense Appropriations. These are men and women whose responsibilities on these committees are chiefly to determine the precise language and monetary amounts to be included in the bills presented to the Senate floor for final vote.
On the House side, 5 Congressmen sit on the House Armed Services Committee, and 3 on the defense appropriations subcommittee, whose households own stock in the companies they are effectively enriching with their legislative decisions.
The report was compiled by investigative reporter David Moore, who used “2023 financial disclosures and stock trades disclosed in subsequent periodic transaction reports,” to create the list.
“It is an obvious conflict of interest when a member of Congress owns significant stock investments in a company and then votes to award the same company lucrative federal contracts,” Craig Holman, part of a political advocacy group called Public Citizen, told Sludge when viewing the report.
“It’s abjectly terrifying that the personal benefit of any member of Congress is factored into decisions about how to wield and fund the largest military in the world,” added a colleague of Holman’s, Savannah Wooten. “Requiring elected officials to divest from the military-industrial complex before stepping into public service would create a safer and more secure world from the outset”.
The Big Five
In Africa, there’s something referred to as the Big Five—the animals on the weald most likely to kill you in the 19th century if you were hunting them. The Big Five are traditionally considered to be elephants, lions, buffalo, rhinos, and leopards.
If you are a Palestinian in Gaza, a Russian soldier in Ukraine, or a family member of an Islamic militant, and you’re blown up by an artillery shell, drone bomb, or short-range missile like those from the Patriot system, you too were likely killed by a member of a Big Five, which would be Boeing, Raytheon (now known as RTX), Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics, and Lockheed Martin.
In the 20 years following the September 11th attack on the World Trade Center, just these five firms pulled in $2.2 trillion in defense contracts, but are projected to make $140 billion by the end of 2024 alone.
“More than three dozen members of Congress own stocks in the ‘Big Five’ defense contractors,” Moore writes in his report. “Three of these companies—Lockheed, Northrop, and General Dynamics—bring in at least 80% of their revenue from federal defense contracts. A fourth, RTX, brings in 59% of its revenue from defense contracts”.
Moore’s report wouldn’t be as shockingly relevant without the context of growing military spending over the Biden Administration as the American military establishment and it’s evident allies in Congress have rushed to arm and fund two major hot wars and one cold one.
“For fiscal year 2024, the national defense topline was at least $145 billion larger than it was in 2021, an increase of nearly 20% from the last defense budget of the Trump Administration,” Moore writes. “More than half of the Pentagon budget goes to private contractors, defense policy analyst Stephen Semler found in a Sludge analysis”.
Stock valuations of Big Five companies Lockheed Martin, RTX, Northrop Gruman, and General Dynamics have risen 63%, 71%, 71%, and 91% respectively, since Biden entered the Oval Office.
Could be your district
Many voters will be skimming through Moore’s report to see whether their House Rep. or Senator is part of the list.
Among the Senators are Susan Collins (R – ME) whose spouse holds $40,000 in RTX stock, John Hickenlooper (D – CO) who disclosed a position in 2023 of a quarter million in RTX, and Jerry Moran (R – KS), who disclosed a $50,000 position in Boeing, which unlike the other Big Five contractors maintains considerable non-defense activities that may have experienced downturns due to poor performance with newer offerings, including the Starliner which recently stranded two astronauts on the International Space Station who were slated to ride it home. The firm received $33 billion in Congressional appropriations last year alone.
On the House side, particularly egregious holdings were seen in the disclosures of House Rep. Debbie Dingell (D – MI), who owns up to $100,000 worth of RTX stock; and Patrick Fallon (R – TX), a member of the Armed Services Committee who holds Boeing stock worth between $100,000 and $250,000. The vast majority of bombs being dropped on Gaza have been manufactured by RTX.
Nearly all of the conflicted House and Senate members voted yes on the recent mammoth National Defense Authorization Act which when the financing bill for Israel’s genocide in Gaza, the Ukrainian war, and arming the Taiwanese is added, arrived at oh-so-nearly $1 trillion. Three Senators eventually abstained from the final vote. WaL
We Humbly Ask For Your Support—Follow the link here to see all the ways, monetary and non-monetary.
PICTURED ABOVE: Logos of some of the largest defense contractors in America. PC: composite image created at WaL / fair use / public domain licensure.
