Source: Data compiled from OpenSecrets (Center for Responsive Politics), Public Citizen’s “Under the Influence” report, Senate and House financial disclosures, IRS Form 990 filings via ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, and FARA (Foreign Agents Registration Act) filings. Covers 297 members of Congress who left office between 2014 and 2026. Compensation data was only publicly available for 30 of 297 members ($107M total documented). The remaining 267 have no publicly accessible post-Congress compensation records.
Tool: Python (Plotly) for the Sankey diagram, rendered at 2x scale.
TheBigBo-Peep on
I really like this, though it’s difficult to compare the parties when they don’t have the same source pool size
Not saying you should change the graph, but a supplemental view would help
Its_not_a_tumor on
Looks pretty even except Republicans are far more likely to be lobbyists. Makes sense with their whole big money in politics ethos.
TokoBlaster on
OK, I just want to point this out because I find it hilarious:
Post Congress destinations. One of those destinations is “deceased.”
It’s just the choice of words, like “Hey [Congress person], what are you going to do now that you’ve left Congress?” “Die.”
Given that you’re focusing on the amount of money they are taking in after Congress, you could leave them off the flow chart and instead add to that note of the 267 having no public data “12 are deceased.”
chichoandthecamera on
There should be a law that says once you serve you can a for life compensation but you can’t work or run for gov anymore, you get a 15 year max
FoolRegnant on
Is there a reason private business is combined with retired?
![Where 297 former members of Congress went after leaving office, and the $107M in documented post-Congress compensation I could find [OC]](https://www.byteseu.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/1xpls4q6hnvg1-1536x967.png "Where 297 former members of Congress went after leaving office, and the $107M in documented post-Congress compensation I could find [OC]")
6 Comments
Source: Data compiled from OpenSecrets (Center for Responsive Politics), Public Citizen’s “Under the Influence” report, Senate and House financial disclosures, IRS Form 990 filings via ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, and FARA (Foreign Agents Registration Act) filings. Covers 297 members of Congress who left office between 2014 and 2026. Compensation data was only publicly available for 30 of 297 members ($107M total documented). The remaining 267 have no publicly accessible post-Congress compensation records.
Tool: Python (Plotly) for the Sankey diagram, rendered at 2x scale.
I really like this, though it’s difficult to compare the parties when they don’t have the same source pool size
Not saying you should change the graph, but a supplemental view would help
Looks pretty even except Republicans are far more likely to be lobbyists. Makes sense with their whole big money in politics ethos.
OK, I just want to point this out because I find it hilarious:
Post Congress destinations. One of those destinations is “deceased.”
It’s just the choice of words, like “Hey [Congress person], what are you going to do now that you’ve left Congress?” “Die.”
Given that you’re focusing on the amount of money they are taking in after Congress, you could leave them off the flow chart and instead add to that note of the 267 having no public data “12 are deceased.”
There should be a law that says once you serve you can a for life compensation but you can’t work or run for gov anymore, you get a 15 year max
Is there a reason private business is combined with retired?