Spheres of Hillfluence: Conversation shifts to healthcare in Q2

Welcome to Penta's "Spheres of Hillfluence" report, a quarterly summation of who is influencing policymakers in Washington D.C., which topics are receiving the most attention, as well as an analysis on partisan divides as it relates to social media. Below is an analysis of Twitter/X data from the official and personal accounts of all Members of Congress from Q2 2025. You can find last quarter's iteration of the Spheres of Hillfluence here.

The Takeaways

Democrats continue to speak out on key issues

As 2025 has continued, Democrats in Congress have continued to use X/Twitter as a key messaging tool. Their total posting on the platform has increased 15% in Q2 compared to Q1, meanwhile Republican posting has dipped 7% in Q2. 

Democrats are using the platform to amplify their message on key issues including healthcare, immigration, tariffs, AI, and crypto. Their posting on key issues is up 52% in Q2, building on growth in Q1. Democrats now outpace Republican members of Congress on posting about key issues. 

Healthcare remains a main concern among Democrats

Democrats have continued to focus their messaging on healthcare. Healthcare is their most commonly covered issue, and second most covered among Republicans. In both parties, Medicaid and Medicare are the next most prominent concerns. 74% of Republican posts and 72% of Democrats posts on healthcare are directly related to Medicaid and Medicare. 

Posts related to Medicaid and Medicare spiked for both parties the week the Reconciliation Bill changes were released, greatly impacting the program's future, but continued to be prevalent throughout and after the bills passage.

Tariffs continue to gain traction with Democrats

Both parties capitalized on the announcement of widespread tariffs to open Q2, as Democrats posted 118% more on tariff impact in Q2 compared to Q1. Republicans also responded to Liberation Day, but at a far more muted rate, only increasing their Q2 posting on tariffs by 39%. Both parties saw the biggest spike in tariff content directly after the announcements on April 4th. Democrats in particular leveraged their messaging early in the quarter, but their focus on tariffs remained higher than that of Republicans. Ultimately both parties tapered towards the end of the quarter, before new tariff announcements began in early July. 

Crypto Week legislation and reactions post-Mamdani win

During Crypto Week, the House voted on three major crypto-related bills. The GENIUS Act establishes the first federal framework for the U.S. dollar–pegged stablecoins. The CLARITY Act defines which federal agency regulates various types of digital assets. The Anti‑CBDC Surveillance State Act prohibits the Federal Reserve from issuing a U.S. Central Bank Digital Currency, citing privacy concerns. All three bills passed the House and advanced to the Senate, with the GENIUS Act already signed into law.

Most tweets about Crypto Week came from House Republicans, who view crypto innovation as key to U.S. leadership in digital finance. Trump has championed a pro-crypto, “America First” agenda focused on clear regulations and financial freedom.

Reactions to Mamdani’s election victory have been minimal from both Democrats and Republicans. Neither party has keyed into it, but Republicans appear to be leveraging it more strategically in their messaging. GOP tweets referencing Mamdani accounted for 0.96% of their key issue tweets, compared to 0.636% from Democrats—indicating a slight but deliberate effort by Republicans to shape the narrative.

Who Influences Congress?

Please note that the "influencer score" referenced below as "Score," examines the Twitter/X activity of relevant stakeholders to identify and map key individuals who influence a target group. This score is a composite metric that measures engagement with a target account's posts, factoring in original mentions, reposts, quote posts, and replies. 

Focusing in...

Which issues are top-of-mind?

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Democrats found a renewed focus with tariffs, increasing the frequency of tweets related to that topic by 118% from Q1, and mentioning them 2,781 more times than Republicans in Q2.

Most influential tweets