The Senate Leadership Fund is bankrolled by corporate greed

Senate Republicans are campaigning on affordability as they try to protect their slim majority in this year’s midterms. That strategy may be complicated by the fact that some of their biggest donors are the corporations raising prices on working Americans.

South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott told Fox News last December that “2026 is a year of affordability” and that President Donald Trump has delivered on lowering prices. Scott chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), which is responsible for electing Republicans to the U.S. Senate.

Scott’s analysis, however, does not align with most people’s lived experiences. A Pew poll from last month found that a growing number of Americans report struggling to cover the cost of food, housing, utilities, and health care.

A variety of factors have contributed to these struggles, including Trump’s tariffs and Congress’ failure to extend Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) subsidies. But one of the biggest culprits has been corporate greed: companies hiking prices and raking in record profits as Americans spiral into debt.

One of those companies is Koch Industries, a manufacturer of fuels and construction materials that is also the second-largest privately held company in the United States. In recent years, the company has bought up fertilizer plants, making it one of just four businesses that control 75% of the fertilizer market.

Farmers have expressed concern about this growing monopoly, particularly in Iowa, where Koch Industries bought a fertilizer plant for $3.6 billion in Sept. 2024. Now, when Koch Industries lifts the price of fertilizer, many Iowa farmers have no choice but to pay it. Farmers may be forced to pass these added costs onto consumers by raising food prices.

“The deal is bad for Iowa farmers, bad for Iowa’s economy, and ultimately bad for consumers paying high food prices,” the Iowa Farmers Union said when the company announced its plan to buy the plant.

Koch Industries spent $12.75 million boosting Republican Senate candidates in the final months of 2025, primarily through PACs like Americans for Prosperity and the Senate Leadership Fund, the main group dedicated to protecting and expanding the Republican majority in the Senate.

In the same time period, the Senate Leadership Fund also received $5 million from Stephen A. Schwarzman, the CEO of the private equity behemoth Blackstone. Among its assets are several rental properties that have led to Blackstone being dubbed “the largest commercial landlord in history.”

A 2023 analysis by the Private Equity Stakeholder Project found that Blackstone often raised rents by as much as 64% after purchasing the properties. The company also buys up single-family homes that it either turns into rentals, resells at a profit, or simply holds onto as an asset. Experts say this practice has contributed to a global housing affordability crisis.

Schwarzman also contributed $5 million last year to MAGA Inc., the main PAC backing Trump’s agenda.

Smaller but still sizable donations to the Senate Leadership Fund came from Michael Smith, CEO of the natural gas company Freeport LNG, and Jeffrey Hildebrand, head of the oil driller Hilcorp. Oil companies Occidental Petroleum and Ovintiv contributed to the group as well.

Each of these companies has been blamed for rising energy prices. Freeport LNG has contributed directly to rising gas prices by shipping U.S.-produced natural gas overseas, a practice that reduces local supply and allows producers to charge Americans more for the same fuel. Hilcorp, which operates Alaska’s largest oil field, has been accused of hiking Alaskans’ gas prices unnecessarily.

In 2024, federal regulators launched an investigation into whether Occidental Petroleum and Ovintiv colluded with OPEC to raise gas prices on Americans. That investigation is officially ongoing.

Smith also contributed to a PAC supporting Maine Sen. Susan Collins.

It’s not just life essentials that are subject to greedy price hikes. Paul Singer, proprietor of the Elliott Investment Management hedge fund, gave $3.75 million to the Senate Leadership Fund. In 2024, Singer’s firm bought a multibillion-dollar stake in Southwest Airlines. The airline implemented a practice of charging customers to check bags shortly thereafter.

Singer has also donated to PACs supporting Collins and Mike Rogers, the Republican Senate candidate for Michigan.