Lobbying
Who pays whom to lobby Congress — and on what issues. Every figure below is an amount reported in an official Lobbying Disclosure Act filing with the U.S. Senate, and links to the source filing.
$324.3M
reported lobbying spend
3,532
disclosure filings
252
lobbying firms
3,120
clients
Top lobbying firms
By income reported from clients (2025).
- 1.BALLARD PARTNERS$21.8M220 clients · Trade (domestic/foreign), Health Issues, Government Issues
- 2.BGR GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS$20.0M287 clients · Health Issues, Defense, Budget/Appropriations
- 3.BROWNSTEIN HYATT FARBER SCHRECK, LLP$18.2M291 clients · Taxation/Internal Revenue Code, Health Issues, Financial Institutions/Investments/Securities
- 4.AKIN GUMP STRAUSS HAUER & FELD$14.3M211 clients · Trade (domestic/foreign), Taxation/Internal Revenue Code, Health Issues
- 5.HOLLAND & KNIGHT LLP$13.2M250 clients · Budget/Appropriations, Defense, Energy/Nuclear
- 6.CORNERSTONE GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS, INC.$13.0M288 clients · Budget/Appropriations, Defense, Health Issues
- 7.INVARIANT LLC$11.6M168 clients · Taxation/Internal Revenue Code, Environment/Superfund, Defense
- 8.THORN RUN PARTNERS$8.2M223 clients · Budget/Appropriations, Health Issues, Defense
- 9.CASSIDY & ASSOCIATES, INC.$7.7M156 clients · Budget/Appropriations, Defense, Energy/Nuclear
- 10.CROSSROADS STRATEGIES, LLC$7.3M146 clients · Taxation/Internal Revenue Code, Trade (domestic/foreign), Health Issues
Top spenders
Organizations by reported lobbying spend — payments to outside firms plus in-house lobbying expenses.
- 1.CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF THE U.S.A.$18.0M1 firm engaged · Automotive Industry, Science/Technology, Environment/Superfund
- 2.NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS$16.1M6 firms engaged · Housing, Taxation/Internal Revenue Code, Insurance
- 3.BUSINESS ROUNDTABLE INC$9.9M1 firm engaged · Science/Technology, Labor Issues/Antitrust/Workplace, Environment/Superfund
- 4.PHARMACEUTICAL RESEARCH AND MANUFACTURERS OF AMERICA$9.5M21 firms engaged · Health Issues, Pharmacy, Medicare/Medicaid
- 5.AMERICAN HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION$6.9M6 firms engaged · Medicare/Medicaid, Health Issues, Immigration
- 6.META PLATFORMS, INC. AND VARIOUS SUBSIDIARIES$6.5M2 firms engaged · Telecommunications, Media (information/publishing), Computer Industry
- 7.AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION$5.7M5 firms engaged · Medicare/Medicaid, Health Issues, Immigration
- 8.AARP$5.5M6 firms engaged · Taxation/Internal Revenue Code, Health Issues, Telecommunications
- 9.AMAZON.COM SERVICES LLC$4.9M6 firms engaged · Telecommunications, Copyright/Patent/Trademark, Labor Issues/Antitrust/Workplace
- 10.LOCKHEED MARTIN CORPORATION$4.4M12 firms engaged · Defense, Budget/Appropriations, Taxation/Internal Revenue Code
Where the money goes
Reported spend by issue area (filings list multiple issues; spend is counted toward each listed issue).
- Taxation/Internal Revenue Code$146.9M
- Budget/Appropriations$125.5M
- Trade (domestic/foreign)$107.9M
- Health Issues$106.6M
- Environment/Superfund$77.6M
- Labor Issues/Antitrust/Workplace$76.6M
- Immigration$75.1M
- Financial Institutions/Investments/Securities$70.0M
- Defense$63.1M
- Telecommunications$60.8M
- Copyright/Patent/Trademark$60.3M
- Energy/Nuclear$57.7M
Largest filings
The biggest single disclosures in the dataset. “In-house” means the organization lobbies on its own behalf.
| Client | Lobbying firm | Issues | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF THE U.S.A. | In-house | Aerospace, Automotive Industry, Aviation/Airlines/Airports +26 | $18.0M | Filing → |
| NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS | In-house | Consumer Issues/Safety/Products, Financial Institutions/Investments/Securities, Housing +8 | $15.8M | Filing → |
| BUSINESS ROUNDTABLE INC | In-house | Manufacturing, Budget/Appropriations, Energy/Nuclear +9 | $9.9M | Filing → |
| PHARMACEUTICAL RESEARCH AND MANUFACTURERS OF AMERICA | In-house | Budget/Appropriations, Copyright/Patent/Trademark, Health Issues +2 | $8.4M | Filing → |
| AMERICAN HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION | In-house | Medicare/Medicaid, Health Issues, Budget/Appropriations +2 | $6.6M | Filing → |
| META PLATFORMS, INC. AND VARIOUS SUBSIDIARIES | In-house | Media (information/publishing), Taxation/Internal Revenue Code, Trade (domestic/foreign) +7 | $6.5M | Filing → |
| AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION | In-house | Budget/Appropriations, Education, Health Issues +6 | $5.5M | Filing → |
| AARP | In-house | Civil Rights/Civil Liberties, Health Issues, Medicare/Medicaid +14 | $5.3M | Filing → |
| AMAZON.COM SERVICES LLC | In-house | Telecommunications, Copyright/Patent/Trademark, Taxation/Internal Revenue Code +19 | $4.6M | Filing → |
| LOCKHEED MARTIN CORPORATION | In-house | Budget/Appropriations, Defense, Aerospace +7 | $3.9M | Filing → |
| VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INC AND VARIOUS SUBSIDIARIES | In-house | Telecommunications, Taxation/Internal Revenue Code | $3.4M | Filing → |
| COMCAST CORPORATION | In-house | Budget/Appropriations, Consumer Issues/Safety/Products, Taxation/Internal Revenue Code +4 | $3.2M | Filing → |
| GENERAL MOTORS COMPANY | In-house | Trade (domestic/foreign), Financial Institutions/Investments/Securities, Copyright/Patent/Trademark +7 | $3.1M | Filing → |
| RTX CORPORATION AND AFFILIATES | In-house | Copyright/Patent/Trademark, Communications/Broadcasting/Radio/TV, Tariff (miscellaneous tariff bills) +9 | $3.1M | Filing → |
| NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BROADCASTERS | In-house | Advertising, Communications/Broadcasting/Radio/TV, Copyright/Patent/Trademark | $3.0M | Filing → |
| AT&T SERVICES INC AND ITS AFFILIATES | In-house | Telecommunications, Taxation/Internal Revenue Code, Trade (domestic/foreign) +1 | $2.9M | Filing → |
| APPLE INC | In-house | Telecommunications, Banking, Taxation/Internal Revenue Code +10 | $2.7M | Filing → |
| UNITEDHEALTH GROUP INC | In-house | Medicare/Medicaid, Pharmacy, Veterans +1 | $2.5M | Filing → |
| MICROSOFT CORPORATION | In-house | Education, Immigration, Science/Technology +10 | $2.4M | Filing → |
| CVS HEALTH (AND SUBSIDIARIES) | In-house | Pharmacy, Taxation/Internal Revenue Code, Medicare/Medicaid +4 | $2.3M | Filing → |
| ELI LILLY AND COMPANY | In-house | Trade (domestic/foreign), Health Issues, Medicare/Medicaid +4 | $2.2M | Filing → |
| EXXON MOBIL CORP | In-house | Chemicals/Chemical Industry, Energy/Nuclear, Environment/Superfund +5 | $1.9M | Filing → |
| AMERICAN PETROLEUM INSTITUTE | In-house | Clean Air and Water (quality), Energy/Nuclear, Fuel/Gas/Oil +4 | $1.9M | Filing → |
| CHEVRON U.S.A. INC. | In-house | Budget/Appropriations, Defense, Energy/Nuclear +9 | $1.9M | Filing → |
| NORTHROP GRUMMAN CORPORATION | In-house | Defense, Aerospace, Taxation/Internal Revenue Code +4 | $1.8M | Filing → |
Coverage: this section tracks filings for the largest registered lobbying firms and direct spenders, not the full LDA database. Amounts are as self-reported in quarterly LDA filings; “spend by issue” counts a filing’s full amount toward each issue it lists. Disclosure of lobbying activity is a legal requirement and not, by itself, evidence of wrongdoing. See a problem? Tell us.