Lobbying

Who paid to be in the room

Registered organizations and lobbying firms report their lobbying activity quarterly. This section follows 68 selected client-name groups in the industries this site tracks, for 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026. The totals describe this tracked subset. Bill associations are shown only after the relevant report histories are checked.

Client totals use the largest client expense report per tracked-name group and quarter, or firm income when no expense report exists. Firm income overlaps expense reports and is displayed separately. Only the years shown were rebuilt.

$2.85B

Spent on lobbying

by 68 tracked clients, 2021–2026

National Association of Realtors

Biggest spender

$375M · Real estate and construction

$624M

Through hired firms

Firm income overlaps client expense reports; it is not added to those totals

2,397

Revolving door

of 8,777 lobbyists in the separate revolving-door snapshot reported earlier government positions

Real estate and construction has the largest total in this tracked subset, $461M across 5 companies and trade groups. Compare that with what the same industry gave to candidates and super PACs on the Industries page. Those campaign totals cover different transactions and may cover a different period.

Lobbying by industry, year by year

Reported lobbying spend by the tracked clients in each industry. An election year is not a quiet year on K Street.

Real estate and construction

5 clients

$461M

Pharma and health care

5 clients

$417M

Tech and AI

5 clients

$409M

Telecom and media

5 clients

$326M

Defense contractors

5 clients

$285M

Insurance

5 clients

$244M

Oil, gas and coal

5 clients

$226M

Wall Street and hedge funds

5 clients

$133M

Tobacco, alcohol and gambling

5 clients

$117M

Gun lobby

4 clients

$67M

Agriculture, food and retail

5 clients

$59M

Labor unions

5 clients

$47M

Crypto

5 clients

$40M

Pro-Israel groups

4 clients

$25M

Yellow bars are election years.

Largest tracked client totals

Top ten within the selected clients and years.

All 68 →

1National Association of RealtorsReal estate and construction$375M
2PhRMAPharma and health care$180M
3MetaTech and AI$128M
4AmazonTech and AI$106M
5Lockheed MartinDefense contractors$83M
6AHIPInsurance$78M
7ComcastTelecom and media$76M
8RTX (Raytheon)Defense contractors$76M
9BoeingDefense contractors$72M
10AltriaTobacco, alcohol and gambling$71M

The revolving door

Lobbyists who used to work inside the government they now lobby.

Who they are →

Ex-members: 49
Ex-Hill staff: 2,092
Ex-executive: 256

Source: Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings (lda.gov REST API)Lobbyists' covered positions, from Senate LDA filings. Client expense reports include payments to retained firms. Each tracked name group uses its largest client expense report per quarter; firm income is used only when that quarter has no client expense report. Firm income shown separately overlaps those expenses. Covered positions are reported history, not proof of contact with a former employer. See About the data.