LawLinter

Source systems

FEC Campaign-Finance Context

FEC/OpenFEC data is modeled as a separate source system and connected to legislative records only through source-attributed deterministic bridges.

Auth

Authorization: Bearer API key

Current base

/api/legislative

Version target

/api/v1

MVP scope

The MVP focuses on candidate totals, committee totals, receipts, disbursements, candidate-committee relationships, legislator bridges, and bill sponsor/cosponsor finance context.

Individual donation line items are intentionally deferred because of cost, volume, privacy, compliance, and product-positioning considerations.

  • Use neutral language such as campaign-finance context.
  • Do not imply donations caused a bill, vote, amendment, or legislative outcome.
  • Show source-attributed totals and relationship confidence when available.

Current FEC context API

These endpoints expose the same source-attributed campaign-finance context already rendered on bill and lawmaker pages.

GET/api/legislative/bills/{congress}/{billType}/{billNumber}/finance

Bill campaign-finance context

Returns aggregate FEC/OpenFEC candidate and committee finance context for lawmakers related to the bill. These are not donations to the bill itself and do not imply influence or causation.

currentdeveloper_free or higher

Source

FEC/OpenFEC and legislative bridge tables

Scopes

bills:read

Request example

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $LAWLINTER_API_KEY" "https://example.com/api/legislative/bills/119/s/98/finance"

Response example

{
  "bill": {"congress": 119, "billType": "s", "billNumber": "98"},
  "financeContext": {
    "notice": "Campaign-finance context uses source-attributed FEC/OpenFEC records that are related or relevant...",
    "billRollups": [
      {
        "cycle": 2026,
        "sponsorshipRole": "sponsor",
        "totalReceipts": 483925,
        "totalDisbursements": 391994,
        "linkedCandidateCount": 1
      }
    ],
    "candidateSummaries": [],
    "committeeSummaries": [],
    "contextCounts": [{"value": "sponsor", "count": 1}]
  },
  "notice": "Campaign-finance context uses source-attributed FEC/OpenFEC records that are related or relevant..."
}
  • Use this endpoint for neutral context attached to a bill page.
  • Totals are related context for lawmakers and committees; they are not donations to the bill itself and do not prove influence.
  • Raw donor and contribution line items are intentionally deferred from the MVP API.
GET/api/legislative/legislators/{bioguideId}/finance

Lawmaker campaign-finance context

Returns aggregate candidate and committee campaign-finance context related to a lawmaker through deterministic FEC candidate bridges. These totals do not imply influence or causation.

currentdeveloper_free or higher

Source

FEC/OpenFEC and lawmaker bridge tables

Scopes

legislators:read

Request example

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $LAWLINTER_API_KEY" "https://example.com/api/legislative/legislators/V000128/finance"

Response example

{
  "legislator": {"bioguideId": "V000128", "fullName": "Example Lawmaker"},
  "financeContext": {
    "notice": "Campaign-finance context uses source-attributed FEC/OpenFEC records that are related or relevant...",
    "candidateSummaries": [
      {
        "fecCandidateId": "H8NJ04014",
        "name": "SMITH, CHRISTOPHER H",
        "cycle": 2026,
        "totalReceipts": 483925,
        "confidence": 92
      }
    ],
    "committeeSummaries": [],
    "contextCounts": [{"value": "candidate", "count": 1}]
  },
  "notice": "Campaign-finance context uses source-attributed FEC/OpenFEC records that are related or relevant..."
}
  • Relationship confidence is included where bridge data provides it.
  • Totals describe related campaign-finance records for the lawmaker, not influence, causation, or endorsement.

Future FEC entity API

Dedicated raw FEC entity endpoints are planned for versioned API launch after identity bridges and rollups stabilize.

GET/api/v1/fec/candidates/{candidateId}

FEC candidate profile

Candidate identity, cycles, committees, and finance totals.

plannedfuture paid/API plan

Scopes

fec:read

GET/api/v1/fec/committees/{committeeId}

FEC committee profile

Committee identity, cycles, treasurer metadata, and finance totals.

plannedfuture paid/API plan

Scopes

fec:read

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