This week, as General Motors CEO Mary Barra goes in front of House and Senate panels investigating ignition switch problems in her company’s vehicles, she’ll be talking to many members whose campaigns have received contributions from the company she steers.

Twenty-one members, or more than 40 percent of the House Energy and Commerce Committee — which today will question Barra on the company’s previous knowledge of the faulty technology that has been blamed for 13 deaths — have been helped by cash from GM’s PAC in the 2012 or 2014 election cycles, according to an OpenSecrets Blog analysis. The company has given $72,000 to the committee’s members from 2011 through 2013, or about $3,500 to each member who received donations.

On Monday, GM expanded its recall of vehicles linked to ignition switch defects by almost 1 million, from about 1.6 million to nearly 2.6 million.

A House committee report issued Sunday found that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and GM failed to act on warning signs, possibly preventing fatalities. In 2007, for instance, a senior NHTSA official informed supervisors of four people who died in GM cars due to the failure of airbags to deploy; airbags won’t open when the ignition fails and the car is turned off. But there was no formal investigation.

Two House committee members stand out for their gifts from GM. Few are more important to the company than Republican Rep. Fred Upton , who is both chair of the panel and a Michigan native. Upton has received almost $74,000 from GM’s PAC and employees over the course of his House career, making it his 13th highest donor . Ford Motor Co. — whose employees and PAC have provided more than $111,000 to Upton’s campaign committee — ranks first for Upton.





Another Michigan lawmaker, Democratic Rep. John Dingell , counts GM as his No. 2 career giver at more than $304,000. Dingell, a longtime past chairman of Energy and Commerce, helped auto makers fight off tougher fuel economy standards for years, and did many other favors for his biggest home-state industry. He’s long had GM connections in other ways, as well, as his wife, Debbie, worked for GM for more than thirty years, including as a lobbyist for a brief time.





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On the Senate side, GM’s influence is far more diluted. Only one of the 15 members of the Senate Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety and Insurance has received donations from the company this cycle: Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), to whom GM has given $3,000 so far.

General Motors CEO Barra has personally given to the campaigns of four candidates since 2010, though only one, Dingell, is on the committee investigating her. All are from Michigan; the donations include $1,000 to Democratic Reps. Dave Camp and Gary Peters and $1,500 to Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow. Barra also routinely donates to her company’s PAC, depositing $410 every month.

Four lawmakers also have personal financial stakes in General Motors, though none are on the committees investigating it. Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) reported an investment of more than $50,000 in the company on his latest personal disclosure forms. Other members whose portfolios could suffer as GM is investigated include Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.), who has more than $15,000 invested. Rep. Donna Edwards (D-Md.) and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) have smaller investments in the auto maker.

In addition to its campaign contributions, General Motors continues to keep a strong lobbying presence in Washington. The auto maker spent more than $8.8 million on lobbying in 2013, an increase from 2012 but down from the company’s peak spending of more than $14.2 million in 2007; that was just before the company tanked during the financial crisis, eventually leading to a government bailout.



Image: General Motors CEO Mary Barra speaking at the 2013 North American International Car Show (Flickr/Dave Pinter) Follow Robbie on Twitter at @robbiefeinberg



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