GOP billionaire pulls back Senate funding
The gist
Billionaire donor Timothy Mellon has sharply cut his giving to Senate Republicans ahead of the midterms.
His pullback leaves Senate GOP fundraising short of one of 2024's biggest checkbooks.
How it unfolded
- 2020Timothy Mellon gave $30 million to the Senate Leadership Fund, the Senate GOP's principal outside group.
- 2024Mellon gave nearly $200 million to support President Trump and other Republicans, with roughly $197 million going to federal political groups including $150 million to Trump's MAGA Inc.
- March 2026Majority Leader John Thune supported the SAVE America Act but said "the votes aren't there" to scrap the filibuster and pass it with Republican votes alone.