openfec_search_candidates
Find federal candidates by name, state, office, party, or cycle. Retrieve a specific candidate by FEC ID with financial totals. Candidate IDs start with H (House), S (Senate), or P (President) followed by digits.
openfec_search_committees
Find political committees (campaign, PAC, Super PAC, party) by name, type, candidate affiliation, or state. Retrieve a specific committee by FEC ID. Committee IDs start with C followed by digits (e.g., C00358796).
openfec_search_contributions
Search itemized individual contributions (Schedule A) or get aggregate breakdowns by size, state, employer, or occupation. Use to answer "who is funding this committee?" Itemized mode requires a committee_id. Aggregate by_size/by_state can use candidate_id instead.
openfec_search_disbursements
Search itemized committee spending (Schedule B) or get aggregate breakdowns by purpose or recipient. All modes require a committee_id. Use to answer "what is this committee spending money on?" or "who is receiving payments from this committee?"
openfec_search_expenditures
Search independent expenditures (Schedule E) — outside spending supporting or opposing federal candidates. Covers Super PACs, party committees, and other groups. Use itemized mode for individual expenditure records, or by_candidate for aggregated totals per candidate.
openfec_search_filings
Search FEC filings and reports by committee, candidate, form type, or date range. Covers financial reports (F3/F3P/F3X), statements of candidacy (F2), organizational filings (F1), 24-hour IE notices (F24), and amendments.