Caterpillar Inc.'s PAC funded 8 members of Congress. 5 of them are connected to the company in two more ways.
Caterpillar Inc. — money, a committee seat, and the stock
First, the money: Caterpillar's PAC spread $84K across 8 members' campaigns.
Then the access: 5 of those funded members — Westerman, Stanton, Curtis and 2 others — sit on committees including Transportation and Infrastructure and Commerce, Science, and Transportation, with jurisdiction over industrials.
Industrials is Caterpillar's industry — and that committee is where its rules, funding, and oversight get written.
And the market: those same 5 members also traded CAT — the stock of the company funding their campaigns.
The 5 members
| Member | PAC $ | Gifts | Committee | Trades |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bruce WestermanR-AR | $24k | 6 | Transportation and Infrastructure | 3 |
| Greg StantonD-AZ | $20k | 7 | Transportation and Infrastructure | 2 |
| John CurtisR-UT | $8k | 2 | Commerce, Science, and Transportation | 4 |
| Robert BresnahanR-PA | $8k | 3 | Transportation and Infrastructure | 3 |
| Robert WittmanR-VA | $8k | 3 | Armed Services | 3 |
The other 3 also took PAC money and disclosed CAT trades — but hold no current seat on a committee overseeing industrials.
PAC contributions are legal and disclosed. This surfaces co-occurrence of corporate donations, lobbying, and personal stock trades — not evidence of coordination or quid pro quo.
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