What is lobbying and how does it work?
Lobbying is trying to influence government decisions. A pharmaceutical company hiring a former senator to argue against drug price caps is lobbying. So is a parent calling a school board member about bus routes.
Lobbying is paid advocacy to influence government officials on legislation, regulation, or policy. It is legal, protected by the First Amendment, and required to be disclosed at the federal level.
Key facts
- Federal lobbying hit $5.3 billion in 2025, a record, the biggest one-year jump since disclosure began in 1998
- Health care spent a record $868 million lobbying in 2025, more than any other sector
- Only 19 states make meaningful lobbying spending data available to the public
- More than 13,000 lobbyists are registered in Washington, and a paid lobbyist can skip registering by staying under 20% of their time on the work
- 281 lobbyists worked in the first Trump administration, four times more than Obama had after six years
The legal definition is narrower than the common one. Under the Lobby Disclosure Act, a lobbyist is someone paid to make more than one contact with a covered official on behalf of a client, spending at least 20% of their time on that work. Federal lobbyists must register with Congress and file quarterly spending reports.
But the 20% threshold is high enough that a large amount of influence work never gets reported. OpenSecrets estimates that shadow lobbyists, who do the same job while staying under the threshold, roughly double the registered count. The money rarely reaches politicians directly. It pays lobbyists to reach them, so the real currency is access, expertise, and the promise of a high-paying lobbying job after a lawmaker leaves office.
Who Spends the Most and Where the Money Goes
Federal lobbying set a record in 2025. OpenSecrets counted $5.24 billion, up 14% from 2024 and the biggest one-year rise since disclosure began in 1998. Bloomberg Government, using a slightly different method, put the 2025 total at $5.3 billion.
Business and industry outspend every other lobbying source by 34-to-1. Roughly 20 registered lobbyists work Capitol Hill for every member of Congress, and that is before counting the shadow lobbyists who never register.
| Period | Value |
|---|---|
| 2018 | $3.5B |
| 2025 | $5.3B |
| Change | +51% in 7 years |
| Category | Value |
|---|---|
| 2018 | $B3.46 |
| 2019 | $B3.51 |
| 2020 | $B3.53 |
| 2021 | $B3.73 |
| 2022 | $B4.09 |
| 2023 | $B4.24 |
| 2024 | $B4.4 |
| 2025 | $B5.3 |
Source: OpenSecrets (2018-2024), Bloomberg Government (2025). Methodologies differ slightly.
Health care outspends every sector
Health care led all sectors in 2025 at a record $868 million. Pharmaceutical and health-product companies alone spent a record $457.3 million as they fought over Medicaid cuts and drug prices.
Finance, insurance, and real estate ranked a distant second at $711 million. The gap between health care and the rest is not new. In 2024, health care already outspent every other sector at $743.9 million.
| Category | Value |
|---|---|
| Health | $M743.9 |
| Finance / Insurance / Real Estate | $M620 |
| Communications / Electronics | $M480 |
| Energy / Natural Resources | $M340 |
| Transportation | $M280 |
| Defense | $M160 |
Health includes pharmaceuticals ($384.5M), hospitals, insurance. Source: OpenSecrets.
Biggest year-over-year risers
The real estate industry jumped 37% in 2024, rising to more than $150 million. The National Association of Realtors led the increase.
How Lobbying Shapes Your Costs and Protections
Lobbying decides what you pay, what protections you have, and which reforms die before you hear about them.
Documented cases: money spent, policy changed, you paid
| What was at stake | What industry spent | What happened | What it cost you |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drug prices | Pharma: $384.5M (2024) | Medicare negotiation narrowed to 10 drugs initially; broader reform delayed | You pay more for prescriptions longer |
| Net neutrality | Telecom: $110M (2017) | FCC rules blocked via Congressional Review Act | ISPs can throttle, prioritize, charge more |
| Internet privacy | Telecom: lobbied against FCC privacy rules | Congress blocked rules permanently via CRA | Your broadband provider can sell your browsing data |
| Housing costs | Real estate: up 37% to $150M+ (2024) | Tenant protections, mortgage reforms stalled | Rent stays high, fewer buyer protections |
| Drug pricing (2022) | Pharma: $372M (2022) | IRA passed but scope narrowed from original proposals | Savings limited to Medicare; private insurance untouched |
| Media regulation | Nexstar: $3.2M (2025, 10x prior years) | Increased pressure on FCC broadcast rules | Less oversight of media consolidation |
The pattern repeats across industries. Money flows in, rules weaken or stall, and the costs land on you. U.S. government prescription drug spending increased 91% from 2000 to 2020, during decades of pharma lobbying against price regulation. Boeing received an estimated $7,250 in return for every $1 spent on lobbying. Lobbying is one of the highest-return investments a corporation can make.
“Despite record federal lobbying spending, the pharmaceutical and health product industry lost their biggest legislative bet in 2022.”
OpenSecrets, February 2023. The Inflation Reduction Act passed over industry objections, but pharma lobbying narrowed its scope.
Most States Let Lobbying Happen in the Dark
Federal lobbying gets quarterly disclosure reports. Most states are far worse. Only 19 states make lobbying spending data available in a form the public can actually search and compare. 17 states do not even require lobbyists to disclose their compensation. The remaining 15 states have disclosure laws on the books but the data is filed on paper, reported infrequently, or structured in ways that make comparison impossible.
The result is that in most states, you can see who registered as a lobbyist but not how much they spent or what they were trying to change.
Source: OpenSecrets Layers of Lobbying scorecard
| State | Disclosure level | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| California | Searchable spending data available | Included in OpenSecrets state lobbying database |
| Colorado | Searchable spending data available | Included in OpenSecrets state lobbying database |
| Florida | Searchable spending data available | Included in OpenSecrets state lobbying database |
| Illinois | Searchable spending data available | Included in OpenSecrets state lobbying database |
| Iowa | Searchable spending data available | Included in OpenSecrets state lobbying database |
| Maine | Searchable spending data available | Included in OpenSecrets state lobbying database |
| Maryland | Searchable spending data available | Included in OpenSecrets state lobbying database |
| Massachusetts | Searchable spending data available | Included in OpenSecrets state lobbying database |
| Michigan | Searchable spending data available | Included in OpenSecrets state lobbying database |
| Minnesota | Searchable spending data available | Included in OpenSecrets state lobbying database |
| Nebraska | Searchable spending data available | Included in OpenSecrets state lobbying database |
| New Jersey | Searchable spending data available | Included in OpenSecrets state lobbying database |
| New Mexico | Searchable spending data available | Included in OpenSecrets state lobbying database |
| New York | Searchable spending data available | Included in OpenSecrets state lobbying database |
| Oregon | Searchable spending data available | Included in OpenSecrets state lobbying database |
| Pennsylvania | Searchable spending data available | Included in OpenSecrets state lobbying database |
| Texas | Searchable spending data available | Included in OpenSecrets state lobbying database |
| Virginia | Searchable spending data available | Included in OpenSecrets state lobbying database |
| Washington | Searchable spending data available | Included in OpenSecrets state lobbying database |
| Alabama | No compensation or spending disclosure | Public cannot see how much lobbyists spend or earn |
| Alaska | No compensation or spending disclosure | Public cannot see how much lobbyists spend or earn |
| Arizona | No compensation or spending disclosure | Public cannot see how much lobbyists spend or earn |
| Arkansas | No compensation or spending disclosure | Public cannot see how much lobbyists spend or earn |
| Georgia | No compensation or spending disclosure | Public cannot see how much lobbyists spend or earn |
| Idaho | No compensation or spending disclosure | Public cannot see how much lobbyists spend or earn |
| Kentucky | No compensation or spending disclosure | Public cannot see how much lobbyists spend or earn |
| Mississippi | No compensation or spending disclosure | Public cannot see how much lobbyists spend or earn |
| Missouri | No compensation or spending disclosure | Public cannot see how much lobbyists spend or earn |
| Montana | No compensation or spending disclosure | Public cannot see how much lobbyists spend or earn |
| Nevada | No compensation or spending disclosure | Public cannot see how much lobbyists spend or earn |
| North Dakota | No compensation or spending disclosure | Annual-only reporting. Among the 3 weakest states nationally. |
| Oklahoma | No compensation or spending disclosure | Public cannot see how much lobbyists spend or earn |
| South Dakota | No compensation or spending disclosure | Annual-only reporting. Among the 3 weakest states nationally. |
| Tennessee | No compensation or spending disclosure | Public cannot see how much lobbyists spend or earn |
| Utah | No compensation or spending disclosure | Public cannot see how much lobbyists spend or earn |
| Wyoming | No compensation or spending disclosure | Public cannot see how much lobbyists spend or earn |
| Connecticut | Registration exists, spending data insufficient | Lobbyist registration exists but spending not tracked comparably |
| Delaware | Registration exists, spending data insufficient | Lobbyist registration exists but spending not tracked comparably |
| District of Columbia | Registration exists, spending data insufficient | Lobbyist registration exists but spending not tracked comparably |
| Hawaii | Registration exists, spending data insufficient | Lobbyist registration exists but spending not tracked comparably |
| Indiana | Registration exists, spending data insufficient | Lobbyist registration exists but spending not tracked comparably |
| Kansas | Registration exists, spending data insufficient | Lobbyist registration exists but spending not tracked comparably |
| Louisiana | Registration exists, spending data insufficient | Lobbyist registration exists but spending not tracked comparably |
| New Hampshire | Registration exists, spending data insufficient | Lobbyist registration exists but spending not tracked comparably |
| North Carolina | Registration exists, spending data insufficient | Lobbyist registration exists but spending not tracked comparably |
| Ohio | Registration exists, spending data insufficient | Lobbyist registration exists but spending not tracked comparably |
| Rhode Island | Registration exists, spending data insufficient | Lobbyist registration exists but spending not tracked comparably |
| South Carolina | Registration exists, spending data insufficient | Lobbyist registration exists but spending not tracked comparably |
| Vermont | Registration exists, spending data insufficient | Lobbyist registration exists but spending not tracked comparably |
| West Virginia | Registration exists, spending data insufficient | Lobbyist registration exists but spending not tracked comparably |
| Wisconsin | Registration exists, spending data insufficient | Lobbyist registration exists but spending not tracked comparably |
- 19
- states with meaningful, searchable spending data (OpenSecrets)
- 15
- states with disclosure laws but data not searchable or comparable
- 17
- states with no lobbyist compensation disclosure at all
What separates strong lobbying disclosure from weak
| Strong disclosure states (19) | Weakest states (North Dakota, South Dakota, Virginia) |
|---|---|
| Spending amounts reported, not just registrations | Annual-only reporting. No meaningful spending disclosure. |
| Electronic filing with public search tools | Paper-based or hard-to-search filings |
| Clients and lobbyists report compensation and specific spending | No compensation disclosure required |
| Real enforcement with penalties | No enforcement mechanism |
The weakest states are not just the ones with fewer rules. They are the ones that make it impossible for the public to follow the money. The Center for Public Integrity found that states have outpaced Congress in upgrading lobbying transparency, but the baseline remains low.
Citizens Have the Same Right to Lobby
The First Amendment protects the right to petition the government. When you call your representative about a bill, you are lobbying. When you testify at a city council hearing, you are lobbying. When you organize 50 neighbors to show up at a school board meeting, you are lobbying.
The difference between corporate lobbying and citizen advocacy is resources, not rights. A pharmaceutical company hires 30 former congressional staffers. You have your phone, your story, and your vote.
How to lobby your representative
- Name the specific bill or agency action. “I’m calling about H.R. 1234” is more effective than “I care about health care.”
- Explain how it affects you or your community. Personal stories change minds. Staff track constituent concerns by volume and specificity.
- Ask for one concrete action. “Will the representative co-sponsor this bill?” gives them something to respond to.
- Follow up across channels. Call, email, attend town halls, and bring other constituents. Local pressure from real voters matters more than polished language.
- Show up in groups. Five constituents at a town hall asking the same question is harder to ignore than 500 emails from a form letter campaign.
When citizens beat corporate money
Medicare drug negotiation passed. Pharma spent over $372 million in 2022. Patient and consumer groups organized against the most heavily lobbied industry in America. The Inflation Reduction Act still passed with drug price negotiation provisions, the first time Medicare was allowed to negotiate in its history.
Net neutrality kept coming back. Telecom spent $110 million, but grassroots consumer pressure kept the issue politically radioactive. The FCC restored rules. Industry kept fighting. The cycle continues, but public attention is the reason the fight still exists.
State-level ethics reforms keep winning. Reform coalitions in multiple states have pushed through stronger reporting, electronic filing, and disclosure rules despite resistance. New York passed a 2026 lobbying law package expanding registration and adding electronic filing requirements.
Trump’s Return Supercharged Lobbying to Record Levels
Lobbying firms took in a record $5 billion in 2025, up increased by 14% from 2024 and the biggest one-year jump since disclosure began in 1998.
The most-lobbied measure of the year was the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the tax-and-spending law Trump signed on July 4, 2025. 2,354 organizations reported lobbying on it, more than three times the next-most-lobbied bill. First-quarter 2026 spending then hit $1.4 billion, the highest first quarter on record.
The firms with Trump connections led the surge
Ballard Partners earned $88.1 million in 2025, more than any firm has ever reported in a single year. That was up more than 350% from the $19.3 million it earned the year before. Ballard signed 200-plus new clients after Trump’s election, and two alumni now hold two of the most powerful jobs in government. Susie Wiles is White House chief of staff and Pam Bondi is attorney general.
Brownstein Hyatt and BGR Group were the only other firms to top $70 million, and both set records. Meta alone spent $19.7 million in nine months, about $400,000 for every day Congress was in session.
AI went from niche to one in four lobbyists
Artificial intelligence became one of Washington’s most-lobbied subjects in 2025. Lobbyists reported working on AI for 774 organizations, up 423% from 2020.
About one in four registered lobbyists now works on AI, a count up 168% since 2022. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce fielded the most, 91 lobbyists on the issue, ahead of Microsoft and Meta.
No ethics restrictions remain
Trump rescinded Biden’s ethics executive order for political appointees in his second term and issued no replacement. Former lobbyists face no barrier to regulating the industries they recently lobbied for. In his first term, 281 lobbyists served in the administration (ProPublica). The pattern is continuing.
| Period | Value |
|---|---|
| First term (2020) | $3.5B |
| Second term (2025) | $5.0B |
| Change | +43% |
State records falling too
New York state lobbying reached $384.8 million in 2025, a fourth straight annual record. New Jersey and Pennsylvania set spending records in their 2025 gubernatorial races.
Transparency is losing. In May 2026, California killed bills that would have required lobbyist letters to be posted online in real time. California is the largest state economy in the country. Its lobbying communications remain private.
The Revolving Door and What Reform Would Change
The revolving door describes former members of Congress and senior staff leaving government to lobby on behalf of private clients. 50% of retiring senators and 42% of retiring representatives go into lobbying or similarly employed advisory roles. 71% of third-party lobbyists have government experience. 281 lobbyists worked in the first Trump administration, four times more than the Obama administration had after six years.
The proof that this is about access, not expertise: lobbyists with experience in a senator’s office see their revenue drop 24% immediately when that senator leaves office (American Economic Review). The value disappears when the relationship ends.
The BLAST Act, short for Banning Lobbying And Safeguarding Trust, would replace today’s short cooling-off periods with a lifetime ban on congressional lobbying and close the loophole that lets former members lobby without registering. Under current law the wait is one year for former House members and two for former senators. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Rick Scott reintroduced the bipartisan bill in 2026, with Rep. Barry Moore carrying a House version.
The Close the Revolving Door Act of 2025, reintroduced by Sen. Michael Bennet in May 2025, would ban former members from lobbying for life, extend the staff cooling-off period to six years, and build a searchable lobbyists.gov disclosure site. It sits in the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
The For the People Act, which the House passed in 2021, would have lowered the lobbying registration threshold, expanded disclosure, and addressed shadow lobbying by former officials who avoid registration. It stalled in the Senate.
Represent.Us pushes a package that would prohibit lobbyists from both lobbying and donating to the same politician. Issue One focuses on transparency, ethics, and structural fixes. Both organizations work at the state level where reform has a track record of passing.
Not all lobbying is corruption
Lobbying is a mechanism, not a crime. The First Amendment explicitly protects the right to petition the government. The problem is the scale imbalance and the lack of transparency, not the act of advocacy itself.
- Nonprofits lobby too. The American Cancer Society, the Sierra Club, and the ACLU all lobby. Their advocacy represents members who paid dues and chose to support the mission. That is the system working.
- Citizen lobbying is lobbying. When you call your representative, you are exercising the same right as a pharmaceutical company. The right is the same. The resources are not.
- Disclosure is the fix, not a ban. The problem with corporate lobbying is not that it exists. The problem is that the public cannot see how much was spent, on what, or by whom in most states. Transparency lets voters judge for themselves.
- Reform has real tradeoffs. A registration threshold set too low would sweep in part-time volunteers and small nonprofits alongside corporate influence shops. The fixes with the broadest support target disclosure and the revolving door, not the right to petition itself.
- The revolving door is the structural problem. Lobbying becomes corrupting when former officials sell their relationships and insider knowledge to the highest bidder. Cooling-off periods and the BLAST Act address the structure, not the right.
- The scale is the problem. Business and industry spend $3.7 billion on lobbying. Ideological and public interest groups spend roughly $200 million. That 34-to-1 ratio means corporate arguments reach lawmakers far more often than yours do.
Frequently asked questions
Is lobbying legal? Yes. The First Amendment protects the right to petition the government. Federal lobbyists must register and file quarterly spending reports. The issue is not legality but the scale imbalance between corporate resources and citizen access, and the lack of transparency in most states.
How much does lobbying cost taxpayers? Lobbying itself does not cost taxpayers directly. The cost comes through policy outcomes. When pharma spends $457.3 million and drug price reform is narrowed, you pay more for prescriptions. When real estate spends $150 million and tenant protections stall, you pay more in rent.
What is the revolving door? Former members of Congress and senior staff leaving government to become lobbyists. 866 former federal employees registered as lobbyists in 2024. Current cooling-off periods are 1-2 years. The BLAST Act would impose a lifetime ban.
Can regular people lobby? Yes. Calling your representative, testifying at hearings, attending town halls, and organizing neighbors are all forms of lobbying. See our guide to writing a letter to Congress.
Which industry spends the most on lobbying? Health care, at a record $868 million in 2025. Pharmaceutical and health-product companies alone spent $457.3 million. Finance, insurance, and real estate ranked second at $711 million. Source: OpenSecrets.
How many states disclose lobbying spending? Only 19 of 50 states make lobbying spending data available in a form the public can search and compare. 17 states do not require lobbyists to disclose their compensation at all. The remaining 15 have disclosure laws but the data is filed on paper, reported infrequently, or not structured for public access. Source: OpenSecrets lobbying scorecard.
What you can do
-
Tell your senators to pass the BLAST Act. A lifetime lobbying ban for former members of Congress. 281 lobbyists worked in the first Trump administration. The revolving door is the structural problem. Use the letter and call script below.
-
Push for state-level lobbying disclosure. If your state is one of the 31 without meaningful spending disclosure, contact your state legislature. Ask for electronic filing, spending reports, and public access tools. OpenSecrets’ scorecard shows where your state ranks.
-
Follow the money in your own elections. OpenSecrets tracks federal lobbying by industry, company, or bill. FollowTheMoney.org tracks state-level spending. When you see a political ad, look up who paid.
-
Lobby your own representative. You have the same constitutional right as any corporation. Call the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121 or use our guide to writing a letter to Congress.