Finally, putting together discretionary spending, mandatory spending, and interest on the debt, you can see how the total federal budget is divided into different categories of spending. This pie chart shows the breakdown $3.8 trillion in combined discretionary, mandatory, and interest spending budgeted by Congress in fiscal year 2015.
o Federal Election Commission (FEC) â the federal agency that regulates campaign donations to and spending by candidates for Congress and the presidency Some regulations limit the amount an individual or organization can give to a political campaign; others prohibit certain kinds of organizations, such as corporations and unions, from contributing directly to candidates or parties Individual donors can get around many of these legal restrictions by setting up PACs or acting as âbundlers ...
PACs. Political action committees, or PACs, account for roughly one-third of the campaign cash collected by candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives, and about 16% of the money raised by Senate candidates. There are today about 4,000 PACs giving actively in federal elections.ecause of the ever-rising cost of political campaigns, many newcomers are forced to dig deeply into their own pockets for money to run their first campaign for Congress. There are no limits to what a candidate can give to his or her own race, as long as it's his or her own money.