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About SlushFund

We follow the money
so you don't have to.

Federal spending is public. Congressional trades are public. PAC donations are public. The problem is none of it is connected. SlushFund connects it.

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The Problem
38%
of federal contracts in FY2024 were awarded without competitive bidding

The "urgency" exception was used 847 times, 72% went to companies whose executives donated to the current administration.

45 days
is the legally required disclosure window for congressional stock trades

Congress members can buy stock, profit, and sell before the public ever knows about the trade.

$400M+
flows through Koch-affiliated dark money groups annually with no public disclosure

Donors to 501(c)(4) groups are never required to be identified. We show what is known not everything that exists.

What We Track

Three databases.
One connection engine.

Federal Contracts & Grants

Every contract, grant, and loan from USAspending.gov cross-referenced against the companies and people connected to the officials who award them.

Browse contracts

Congressional Stock Trades

OGE Form 278-T disclosures for every member of Congress. Every reported purchase and sale, tagged with the timing of related contract awards.

View trades

PAC Money & Dark Money

Federal PAC contributions layered with 501(c)(4) dark money networks. We track what is legally disclosed and show the gaps.

Follow the money
Methodology

How We Connect the Dots

Political Connection Flagging

We flag a contract as "politically connected" when one or more of these conditions are met:

1
Executive donation overlap: A company executive or major shareholder donated to a member of Congress who sits on the committee that oversees the awarding agency.
2
PAC-to-policy pipeline: A company PAC contributed to a politician who voted for legislation benefiting that company.
3
Dark money layering: A company with federal contracts donated to a dark money group that subsequently donated to a politician who controls the company's regulatory agency.
4
Pre-award trading: A politician purchased stock in a company within 90 days before that company received a contract from an agency under that politician's oversight.

Insider Trading Signals

We flag trades with a "pre-award buy" signal when all three conditions are true:

1.The transaction type is a BUY or PURCHASE
2.The company has received a federal contract of $10M or more
3.The contract was awarded within 30 days BEFORE or 60 days AFTER the trade date

Note: Pre-award buy signals are not indicators of illegality. They represent an overlap between disclosed trading activity and public contract data. The STOCK Act prohibits insider trading using nonpublic information public contract announcements are not nonpublic. However, patterns are worth independent investigation.

Contractor Overlap Score (0–100)

For each member of Congress, we calculate a composite overlap score:

40pts
Company contracts + member trades
Cross-referencing stock holdings against the full awards database
30pts
PAC donations from traded companies
FEC PAC contribution filings linked to the member's disclosed donations
20pts
Committee oversight of traded companies
Mapping committee assignments to awarding agencies
10pts
Timing near major contract announcements
Trades within 60 days of a major contract award
Data Sources

Public Records. That's It.

USAspending.gov
Federal contract awards, grants, and loans. Updated daily via automated sync.
Office of Government Ethics (OGE)
Form 278-T congressional stock disclosures. Updated within 48 hours of filing.
Federal Election Commission (FEC)
PAC registration and contribution records, candidate committee finances.
QuiverQuant
Real-time congressional trade data aggregated from OGE disclosures.
OpenSecrets
PAC revenue, spending, and donor information for dark money research.
doge.gov
Official DOGE savings claims and contract cancellation data.
Honest About Limits

What We Can't Show

The 45-day disclosure gap: Congressional trades are disclosed up to 45 days after execution. Profits can be taken before the public knows about the trade. Our data is always at least 45 days behind real time.
Dark money layering: We track disclosed PAC contributions and 501(c)(4) spending. Many donors to dark money groups are never publicly identified. We show what is knowable.
Options and derivatives: Congress members must disclose stock options. These are often reported in ways that make precise valuation difficult. We convert all amounts to ranges based on disclosed value.
Pre-2019 trading history: Our congressional trading database begins in 2019. Earlier trades are not included.
Spouse and dependent trades: Trades made by a spouse or dependent child may be reported under the member's name, but timing and amount may not reflect the member's personal decision-making.
The Team

Built by Researchers,
for Everyone

SlushFund Research Team
Investigative Data Team

Former journalists, data scientists, and federal procurement specialists. We build the infrastructure that makes public money transparent.

We're hiring

We need investigative journalists, data engineers, and federal procurement experts. If you've ever wanted to build investigative infrastructure full-time, let's talk.

Get in Touch
Corrections

We Make Mistakes.
Here's What Happens When We Do.

SlushFund is a data transparency tool, not a legal judgment. Our flags are signals, not verdicts. When we get something wrong a misattributed contract, an incorrect donation amount, a missing trade we correct it visibly.

Found an error? Contact us and we will investigate and correct within 48 hours. Corrections are logged at the bottom of the relevant page with a timestamp and description of what was changed.

Ready to investigate

Every contract. Every trade.
Every conflict.

It's all public. It's all here. Start digging.

Federal Spending Congressional Trades PAC & Dark Money