Source guide
Data sources
Gov Influence uses bounded captures from official federal systems and office pages. Source records can change after retrieval, so every public module shows a relevant period, retrieval date, review date, and direct source link.
Reviewed Sep 5, 2026
LDA.gov — lobbying disclosure
Fields used include filing UUID and URL, client and registrant names and identifiers when supplied, filing year and quarter, type, posting time, income and expense fields, official issue codes and labels, original activity descriptions, and listed government entities. The current six-organization collection covers Q1-Q2 2026 and was retrieved September 4, 2026; the bounded Boeing analyst packet also uses Q4 2025 records retrieved September 3, 2026.
Each reviewed refresh reruns the same bounded queries, exact-alias rules, and canonical-version selection. An amendment can replace an earlier version; it does not add another activity count. Search-name ambiguity, late or amended filings, broad issue codes, rounding, thresholds, and filer-supplied wording remain source limits. LD-1 registrations, LD-203 contributions reports, individual lobbyist profiles, and filings outside the stated packet are intentionally omitted from current activity totals. The Senate Office of Public Records cannot vouch for Gov Influence data or analysis after retrieval.
Congress.gov — bills and members
The bill adapter uses Congress number, bill type and number, title, introduction date, sponsor and Bioguide ID, official policy area, subjects, actions, committees and subcommittees, cosponsors under the published selection rule, update time, and stable overview, text, actions, and committee URLs. The five selected 119th Congress bill packets were retrieved September 5, 2026.
A refresh replaces the captured packet only after validation and review. Congress.gov may add actions, subjects, committees, text versions, or corrections after retrieval; API and source-system update times can differ from the event date. Selected chronologies omit many procedural details and are not forecasts or policy evaluations.
Bioguide, House, and Senate — congressional identity and responsibilities
Congress.gov member data and Bioguide identifiers support canonical name, chamber, state or district, current term, and selected bill sponsorship. Reviewed House and Senate pages support only the current leadership, committee, or subcommittee responsibilities displayed on a profile. The current official-role packet was retrieved September 5, 2026.
Office pages can change without a stable version history, and committee rosters can change during a Congress. The workflow checks an approved government host and expected evidence terms, then preserves the retrieval and review dates. Generic biographies, campaign claims, complete voting histories, staff information, and unselected assignments are omitted.
White House — executive office
Reviewed White House pages support the displayed President identity, office title, effective date, and one selected dated official action. The current packet was retrieved September 5, 2026. Because web pages can be revised, the capture checks approved host and evidence terms and records when it was obtained.
Congress-only fields, campaign rhetoric, promotional biography, inferred positions, and a comprehensive catalog of presidential actions are omitted.
Federal Election Commission — committee aggregates
The current bounded FEC context uses committee ID, name, type, designation or affiliation fields when supplied, election cycle, aggregate receipts and disbursements, coverage dates, and direct committee links. The Boeing committee and 2024-cycle aggregate packet was retrieved September 3, 2026.
FEC records can be amended, and aggregate coverage may update after a filing is processed. A committee ID is the identity anchor; a similar name is not enough. Gov Influence intentionally omits individual contributor transactions and does not combine committee money with lobbying amounts.
USAspending — federal awards
The current bounded award context uses award ID, recipient name and identifier when supplied, awarding agency and subagency, award type and amount, description, period of performance, and stable award URL. The selected Boeing award packet was retrieved September 3, 2026.
Agency submissions, corrections, and data-source lags can change an award record after retrieval. Recipient identity requires a reviewed basis. Subawards, every modification, payment timing, performance evaluation, and causal links to lobbying or legislation are not included.
What retrieval dates mean
A retrieval date says when Gov Influence obtained a source packet; a source update date says when the source reports changing the record; a review date says when the project checked the normalized content. None guarantees that the official system has no newer record. Generated summaries are reproducible project outputs, not substitute government records.