About SlushFund

We track the money behind federal spending. Every contract, every donation, every conflict.

Our Mission

SlushFund exists because the money behind federal spending is invisible to the public. Contracts worth billions are awarded to companies whose executives donate to the politicians who control the agencies writing the checks. Stock trades that precede contract announcements are disclosed 45 days later, long after the profit is locked in. PAC money flows through layers of dark money groups before reaching a candidate.

We make that money visible. Every contract, every donation, every stock trade — connected, searchable, and surfaced in plain language.

What We Track

Federal Contracts

Every contract award, grant, and loan from USAspending.gov. Includes contractor name, awarding agency, dollar amount, and whether it was competitively bid.

Congressional Stock Trades

OGE Form 278-T disclosures for all members of Congress. Every reported purchase and sale of stock, filed within 45 days of the transaction.

PAC Money

Federal PAC contributions from FEC filings. We track both disclosed donations and the dark money networks that layer through 501(c)(4) organizations.

DOGE Savings

Contract cancellations and reduction claims from doge.gov, verified against actual USAspending.gov disbursements.

Methodology

Political Connection Flagging

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

  • +A company executive or major shareholder donated to a member of Congress who sits on the committee that oversees the awarding agency
  • +A company political action committee (PAC) contributed to a politician who voted for legislation benefiting that company
  • +A company with active federal contracts donated to a dark money group that subsequently donated to a politician who controls the company's regulatory agency
  • +A politician purchased stock in a company within 90 days before that company received a contract from an agency under that politician's oversight committee

Insider Trading Signals

We flag trades with a "pre-award buy" signal when all of the following 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 the overlap between a member\'s disclosed trading activity and publicly available contract data. The STOCK Act prohibits insider trading using nonpublic information. Public contract announcements are not nonpublic. However, the appearance of a pattern is worth independent investigation.

Contractor Overlap Scoring

For each congress member in our database, we calculate an "overlap score" (0-100) based on:

40%
Companies with federal contracts the member has traded
Tracked by cross-referencing member stock holdings against the full awards database
30%
Companies whose PAC donated to the member
Tracked via FEC PAC contribution filings linked to the member's disclosed donations
20%
Member serves on committee overseeing agencies that award contracts to traded companies
Tracked by mapping committee assignments (from congressional records) to awarding agencies
10%
Timing: member traded within 60 days of a major contract announcement by a traded company
Tracked via the pre-award buy signal above

Data Sources

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

SlushFund is a data transparency tool, not a legal judgment. Our flags are signals, not verdicts. A pre-award buy signal means a trade occurred near a contract award — it does not mean the trade was based on nonpublic information.

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

Corrections Policy

We make mistakes. When we do, we correct them visibly. If you find an error in our data — a misattributed contract, an incorrect donation amount, a missing trade — 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.

Contact

We work with journalists, researchers, and watchdog organizations. If you are investigating federal spending, congressional stock trading, or political money flows, we want to hear from you.

Submit a Tip or Data Request