Sunlight Foundation Reporting Group

Koch brother among donors to Mark Sanford redemption run

Updated 1:44 p.m. 3/8

Presidential campaign 2016 off and running

A group based in his home state is airing ads against Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell in Iowa and New Hampshire to preempt a potential 2016 presidential campaign by the term-limited Republican.

Anti-immigration lobby runs first ad targeting Lindsey Graham

The first issue ad of the immigration reform battle hit the airwaves in South Carolina last week, targeting Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who is up for reelection in 2014. NumbersUSA, one of the leading groups opposing comprehensive immigration reform paid for the ads, reports filed with the Federal Communication Commission show. The group, headed by long time advocate Roy Beck, has been around since the late '90s and argues that increased immigration will deplete the country’s resources, leading to sprawl, congestion and restrictions on individual liberties.

Mark Sanford drops third ad in special election

Ahead of the primary in South Carolina's special congressional election later this month, former Gov. Mark Sanford, a Republican who's trying to make a comeback after a particularly public scandal, released a new TV ad Thursday.

What Jon Kyl won't be lobbying on

Jon Kyl, the number two Senate Republican leader before retiring in January, has quickly become an advisor to influence powerhouse Covington & Burlington, a firm that has spent nearly $100 million lobbying in the nation's capital, Sunlight's Influence Explorer shows. Kyl will be joining a bipartisan stable of heavy hitters that includes Stuart Eizenstat, a top official in the Carter and Clinton administrations, and Senate parliamentary wizard Marty Gold.

No sequester for political ads

In honor of the snowquester, as the Washington Post's cheeky Weather Gang has dubbed the spring storm that so far has proven more effective than the Tea Party in reining in government, Sunlight has decided to take a look at the efforts getting underway by various groups to keep the actual sequester at bay.

TV stations ignore ad disclosure requirements

A decade after a landmark campaign finance reform law mandated that TV stations collect the names of board members or executive officers of groups running political ads for federal candidates or any "national legislative issue of public importance," records show broadcasters often ignore the rules.

Shalesmanship: Ralph Hall's Energy act might have benefited his own bottom line

Veteran Rep. Ralph Hall appears to be profiting from legislation he helped write. But the Texas Democrat-turned-Republican didn't want to discuss his profits from the Barnett Shale.

After $100,000 inaugural donation, nuclear deal gets closer

ExxonMobil lobbies consumer agency on phthalates

Under heavy lobbying by ExxonMobil and other industry heavyweights, the Consumer Product Safety Commission is nearly a year late with a mandated report on the possible dangers found in chemicals used to create plastic products from raincoats to "rubber" duck bath toys to shampoo. A Sunlight review of the public record shows how outgunned consumer advocates are by industry.

Gun ads in Illinois primary a harbinger of things to come?

The gun debate is already emerging as an issue for the 2014 election cycle. In the weeks since the State of the Union address, which President Barack Obama used to make an emotional appeal for gun control, at least seven groups have either purchased airtime in major markets around the country or posted TV-ready ads to their Youtube accounts.

Pro-gun interests hire new lobbyists

Three pro-gun interests have hired lobbyists, according to registration statements filed with the Senate Monday and last week, in the face of a push by Congress to introduce new gun control measures in the wake of the December massacre in Newtown, Connecticut.

Obama visits GOP givers to make a point about sequestration

When President Barack Obama travels Tuesday to the historic Newport News Shipbuilding facility to make a point about the potential damage from the looming sequestration axe, he'll be making a political point in more ways than one.

Planned Parenthood targets Mitch McConnell