The Home Depot, Inc.'s PAC funded 23 members of Congress. 5 of them are connected to the company in two more ways.
The Home Depot, Inc. — money, a committee seat, and the stock
First, the money: The's PAC spread $457K across 23 members' campaigns.
Then the access: 5 of those funded members — Allen, Harshbarger, Curtis and 2 others — sit on committees including Energy and Commerce and Commerce, Science, and Transportation, with jurisdiction over consumer discretionary.
Consumer discretionary is The's industry — and that committee is where its rules, funding, and oversight get written.
And the market: those same 5 members also traded HD — the stock of the company funding their campaigns.
The 5 members
| Member | PAC $ | Gifts | Committee | Trades |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rick AllenR-GA | $40k | 10 | Energy and Commerce | 2 |
| Diana HarshbargerR-TN | $25k | 6 | Energy and Commerce | 6 |
| John CurtisR-UT | $25k | 7 | Commerce, Science, and Transportation | 3 |
| Lizzie FletcherD-TX | $12k | 5 | Energy and Commerce | 1 |
| John JamesR-MI | $10k | 3 | Energy and Commerce | 2 |
The other 18 also took PAC money and disclosed HD trades — but hold no current seat on a committee overseeing consumer discretionary.
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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