Jeff Merkley
Democrat
· OR Senate · 117th Congress
Rural Development (Chair) · Food and Drug Administration (Chair) · and Related Agencies (Chair) · Waste Management (Chair) · Environmental Justice (Chair) · and Regulatory Oversight (Chair) · Multilateral Institutions (Chair) · and International Economic (Chair) · and Environmental Policy (Chair) · Senate Committee on the Budget (Chair) · Joint Committee on Printing · Senate Committee on Appropriations · Health and Human Services · and Education · Foreign Operations · and Related Programs · Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works · and Nuclear Innovation and Safety · and Nuclear Safety · and Wildlife · Senate Committee on Foreign Relations · the Pacific · and International Cybersecurity Policy · International Operations · and Bilateral International Development · Transnational Crime · Civilian Security · Human Rights · and Global Women's Issues · Senate Committee on Rules and Administration
Influence Score
85.8
Most exposed
↓ -4.3
vs 118th (72.6)
— ◊ —
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
12.0
/ 12
Outside spendingmoney spent by groups to help elect them
0.1
/ 6
Spent to help elect them
$1,141
Outside groups that spent to help elect this member — this drives the outside-spending bar above
Lobbyinghow hard lobbyists push the committees this member sits on
10.0
/ 10
Vote alignmenthow often they vote the way their donors want
12.0
/ 12
Contribution timingmoney arriving near key votes
< 0.1
/ 6
Stock tradesbuying stocks in industries they regulate
0.0
/ 1
Dark moneyfunding from groups that hide their donors
< 0.1
/ 2
Outbound money distributionmoney this member sends out to the party and to colleagues
12.1
/ 16
Cluster network breadthhow many coordinated funding networks back this member
0.2
/ 10
Committee jurisdiction powerthe legislative reach of the committees this member sits on
10.0
/ 10
Foreign interestforeign-interest money — Israel-policy PACs and FARA-registered institutional lobbying allocated by committee jurisdiction
9.2
/ 12
Israel-policy PACs behind this score
JSTREETPAC
$250 direct
FARA institutional lobbying
This member’s committees are targeted by $370.03M 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 — $740K.
— ◊ —
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 | 69.4 | Highly exposed |
| 117th · 2021-2023 | 85.8 | Most exposed |
| 118th · 2023-2025 | 72.6 | Highly exposed |
| 119th · 2025-2027 | 68.3 | Moderately exposed |
— ◊ —
Biggest funding source
The single network behind the most money and influence
Network
UNITED WE CAN
Total money from this network
$30,000
Number of funding networks contributing
1
— ◊ —
Where most of the money comes from
What share of their combined contributions and outside spending comes from a single network. Party committees are excluded.
Network
UNITED WE CAN
Share from this one network
4.8%
Amount from this network
$20,000
Total from all networks
$420,345
Networks contributing
70
— ◊ —
Who funds Merkley
Every funding network we can measure, ranked by influence
$7,301,605
— ◊ —
Does the money match their power?
Whether their money comes from the industries their committees actually oversee
Money from industries they regulate
99.7%
Extra weight when money matches their committees
2.00×
Share of outside spending tied to their policy areas
88.2%
— ◊ —
Money timed to key votes
Donations arriving near key votes in the policy areas this member regulates
Biggest clusters of timed money
SANTANDER BANK
$250
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
$250
STANDARD INSURANCE
$250
GLOBAL PETROLEUM
$200
NORTHWESTERN MUTUAL
$200
LPL FINANCIAL
$125
KAISER PERMANENTE INTERSTATE CAMPUS
$100
LOS ANGELES COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT
$60
OREGON HEALTH SCIENCE UNIVERSITY
$50
OREGON HEALTH SCIENCE UNIVERSITY
$50
— ◊ —
Top Donors
Biggest sources of contributions, grouped by employer, this cycle
GOOGLE
$1.20M
USPS
$1.17M
ASSET MANAGEMENT LLP
$1.00M
BLOOMBERG
$1.00M
BROWNSTEIN HYATT FARBER SCHRECK
$839K
AFSCME INT L
$590K
ARREVA
$500K
GIVE LIVELY
$500K
MONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM
$500K
OMAHA FIRE DEPT
$465K
OMAHA FIRE DEPT
$441K
K L GATES
$440K
AMERICAN POSTAL WORKERS UNION
$329K
AFSCME INT L
$315K
K L GATES
$252K
WEYERHAEUSER NR
$235K
UNITED PARCEL SERVICE
$230K
BARNES THORNBURG LLP
$198K
GRAY TELEVISION
$181K
IBEW
$173K
Where the outside money comes from
How much of the outside spending for and against Jeff Merkley comes from groups that disclose their donors versus groups that hide them
Total outside spending received
$128
Disclosed outside spending
$0
Dark-money outside spending
$128
Share that is dark money
100.00%
Dark money tied to their policy areas
$120
Groups hiding their donors
2
By funding network
CARE ACTION
$1K
DEMOCRACY PAC
$121
LCV VICTORY FUND
$120
SIERRA CLUB INDEPENDENT ACTION
$10
ENVIRONMENT AMERICA ACTION FUND
$7
Groups that hide their donors
2 smaller groups under $500
$128
Likely donors behind the dark money supporting this member
Inferred
Donors who fund the disclosed PACs in the same network as the hidden groups above. "Coverage" is how many of that network's disclosed groups a donor funds — the more they fund, the more likely they also back the hidden group.
NEVADANS FOR STEVEN HORSFORD
$80K
TITUS FOR CONGRESS
$80K
SUSIE LEE FOR CONGRESS
$79K
GEORGE SOROS
$525.74M
SMP
$81.00M
BLACKPAC
$47.25M
AB PAC
$25.50M
HMP
$15.00M
HOUSE MAJORITY PAC
$15.00M
CARE IN ACTION PAC
$6.60M
— ◊ —
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.
18 individuals who also gave to pro-Israel PACs contributed $478K to Jeff Merkley across 29 contributions.
Total from shared contributors
$478K
Shared contributors
18
Contributions
29
By cycle
| Cycle | Shared donors | Gifts | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 7 | 7 | $202K |
| 2024 | 7 | 11 | $263K |
| 2026 | 10 | 11 | $13K |
— ◊ —
Revolving Door
9 former staff members
who worked for Jeff Merkley or the committees they serve are now registered lobbyists.
| Lobbyist | Former position | Firm | Clients | Filings | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LOGAN HOLLERS | Policy Advisor / Counsel, Senator Jeff Merkley (2018-2021); Legislative Assistan… | INVARIANT LLC | 16 | 18 | 2023–2025 |
| JAKE OKEN-BERG | Senior Business Advisor to Senator Jeff Merkley 2011-2021; Special Assistant to … | SUMMIT STRATEGIES GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS LLC | 11 | 92 | 2023–2025 |
| MATTHEW MCNALLY | Chief of Staff Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney; Communications Director & Senior Advis… | INTERSECTION | 8 | 48 | 2024–2025 |
| MATTHEW MCNALLY | Chief of Staff Sean Patrick Maloney 2019-2022; Senior Advisor Senator Jeff Merkl… | RASKY PARTNERS, INC. | 2 | 11 | 2023–2024 |
| ADRIAN SNEAD | Counsel, foreign policy advisor, and military legislative assistant for the Offi… | PORTER WRIGHT MORRIS & ARTHUR LLP | 2 | 2 | 2025–2025 |
| ELVIA MONTOYA | Legislative Director, Senator Jeff Merkley; Policy Advisor/Legislative Assistant… | PORT OF PORTLAND | 1 | 1 | 2023–2023 |
| TARA PALMER STUTSMAN | Legislative Aide, Senator Jeff Merkley; Legislative Correspondent, Senator Jeff … | AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION | 1 | 1 | 2024–2024 |
| KEVIN GLUBA | Chief of Staff Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney; Communications Director and Senior Adv… | INTERSECTION | 1 | 1 | 2024–2025 |
| CAITLIN YNTEMA | Policy Advisor, Sen. Jeff Merkley (Aug. 2021-Sept. 2024); Research Asst., House … | ELECTRIFY AMERICA, LLC | 1 | 1 | 2025–2025 |
— ◊ —
Jeff Merkley ranks among the most exposed members of this Congress — the top tier on the index. The markers run across several of the twelve categories for the same funding network: contributions, outside spending, lobbying inside the policy areas this member regulates, vote alignment, and contribution timing among them. The score measures financial exposure in the public record; it is not a finding of intent or wrongdoing.
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