ChatGPT Is Pulling In 90% of Congress's AI Spending
House disbursement records show lawmakers spent around $100,580 on ChatGPT in a single year, dwarfing all other AI tools combined. Anthropic's Claude came second, at a distant $13,160.
Key points
- House offices spent roughly $100,580 on ChatGPT, a popular AI chatbot made by OpenAI, in the year ending 31 March 2026, across 798 separate transactions.
- That figure represents about 90% of at least $113,740 in total AI tool spending by Congress during the same period.
- Anthropic's Claude, a rival AI chatbot, came second with $13,160 across 37 transactions.
- Democratic offices outspent Republican offices on AI tools by roughly three to one: $54,165 versus $15,782.
- The figures cover only paid accounts and exclude AI features bundled inside larger software contracts.
Congress has a favourite AI chatbot, and it isn't a close race.
House offices, committees and institutional accounts spent roughly $100,580 on ChatGPT during the year ending 31 March 2026, about 90 cents of every dollar Congress put into AI tools over that period, according to public House disbursement records first reported by CNBC. The 798 transactions dwarf what any other tool collected.
The runner-up was Claude, Anthropic's AI chatbot, which collected $13,160 across 37 transactions. Total spending across all tools came to at least $113,740. That context matters: we reported on 30 July that a federal judge blocked the Trump administration's attempt to bar Anthropic from government work, yet Claude's share of congressional spending is still barely 12%.
What are staffers actually doing with these tools?
Writing and research tasks that eat up hours in any busy office. Congressional staff are drafting memos, summarising legislation, responding to constituents, preparing hearing materials and working through policy research. Some are using AI chatbots to draft social media posts.
A technology many people already use at home has quietly found a home in the US legislature. Whether it belongs there is a different question.
Does the partisan split tell us anything?
Democratic offices spent $54,165, roughly three times the $15,782 spent by Republican offices. The records don't explain why. It could reflect different staffing levels or different attitudes toward adopting new software. Both explanations are plausible; neither is proven.
One caveat worth keeping in mind: these numbers capture only paid subscriptions taken out directly by House offices. Any staffer on a free account, or using AI features bundled into a broader software contract, wouldn't appear here. Real AI use in Congress is almost certainly higher.
| Tool | Total Spent | Transactions |
|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT (OpenAI) | $100,580 | 798 |
| Claude (Anthropic) | $13,160 | 37 |
| Total AI spending | $113,740+ | not specified |
What does this mean for ordinary people?
If your representative's office sends you a reply letter, or a committee publishes a bill summary, there's now a real chance an AI chatbot wrote the first draft. That isn't necessarily alarming. Staffers have always relied on templates and research assistants; AI is a faster version of the same idea.
What it does mean is that chatbot accuracy now touches everyone. These tools make confident-sounding mistakes. Offices leaning heavily on them for policy research or constituent replies need humans checking the output carefully, every time.
