# Lobbying Hub
Foundations-shelf navigational hub for the **DC influence industry** — the firms, lobbyists, and machinery that convert money into access to federal power. Lobbying lives in `/Foundations/` beside [[Campaign Finance]] because it is part of the structural plumbing of how power actually operates in Washington, not an academic subject.
Scope (expanded 2026-07): a **top-50 census of the market by revenue**, alignment-blind, atop the original right-aligned/Trump-world depth coverage. Firm entities live in `/Organizations/` and lobbyist profiles in `/People/`, both tagged `#lobbying`; this page is the index. For the definitional anchor (what lobbying is and how it's regulated), see [[Lobbying]].
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## The through-line
Federal lobbying hit a record ~$5.3 billion in 2025, and the gains concentrated in firms tied to the [[Second Trump Administration]]. The mechanism is the [[Revolving Door]] running at unusual speed: firms staffed by Trump's former partners, fundraisers, and aides became the market's premium product, and corporations and foreign governments paid record sums for proximity. [[Ballard Partners]] — whose ex-partners now include the White House Chief of Staff ([[Susie Wiles]]) and the Attorney General ([[Pam Bondi]]) — vaulted to the #1 firm in DC.
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## The 2025 Top-50 census
Full-year LDA income, per OpenSecrets (final 2025 figures; census locked 2026-07-05, completed to 50 on 2026-07-06). Every firm below has a KB page. Industry total: a record ~$5B. Remember the census counts only *registered* lobbying — see [[Shadow Lobbying]] for why these figures are floors.
### The top 20 (exact ranks)
| # | Firm | 2025 income | Character |
|---|------|-------------|-----------|
| 1 | [[Ballard Partners]] | $88.1M | Trump-world |
| 2 | [[Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck]] | $73.7M | Bipartisan giant |
| 3 | [[BGR Group]] | $71.5M | GOP-rooted bipartisan |
| 4 | [[Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld]] | $65.5M | Bipartisan law-firm shop |
| 5 | [[Cornerstone Government Affairs]] | $55.6M | Bipartisan; staffer/appropriations model |
| 6 | [[Holland & Knight]] | $54.9M | Bipartisan law-firm shop |
| 7 | [[Miller Strategies]] | $51.1M | Trump-world |
| 8 | [[Invariant]] | $47.2M | Dem-rooted bipartisan; AI-lobbying surge |
| 9 | [[Thorn Run Partners]] | $32.4M | Bipartisan by design; healthcare |
| 10 | [[Cassidy & Associates]] | $30.6M | Earmark pioneer; live Egypt [[FARA]] story |
| 11 | [[Crossroads Strategies]] | $28.3M | Bipartisan; [[Public Policy Holding Company]] |
| 12 | [[Mehlman Consulting]] | $28.3M | Bipartisan; crypto/AI/tax |
| 13 | [[Continental Strategy]] | $27.5M | Trump-world |
| 14 | [[Forbes Tate Partners]] | $26.3M | Dem-rooted bipartisan; pharma; PPHC |
| 15 | [[Capitol Counsel]] | $25.4M | Bipartisan; "Trumps Up" hires; Canada book |
| 16 | [[Mercury Public Affairs]] | $25.2M | Bipartisan w/ Trump bench |
| 17 | [[S-3 Group]] | $24.4M | Bipartisan; +61% on West Front merger |
| 18 | [[Tiber Creek Group]] | $23.8M | Dem-establishment; pharma; DCCC bundling |
| 19 | [[Squire Patton Boggs]] | $23.5M | Bipartisan law-firm shop |
| 20 | [[Strategic Marketing Innovations]] | $23.0M | Nonpartisan R&D-appropriations specialist |
### The 21–50 tier
Ranks below 20 are best-evidence ordering (OpenSecrets publishes exact ranks only for the top 20); dollar figures are verified full-year 2025. All pages are stubs unless noted.
| ~# | Firm | 2025 income | Character |
|----|------|-------------|-----------|
| 21 | [[Checkmate Government Relations]] | $22.5M | Trump-world (full page) |
| 22 | [[K&L Gates]] | $20.8M | Law-firm shop |
| 23 | [[Alpine Group]] | $19.7M | Bipartisan boutique |
| 24 | [[Van Scoyoc Associates]] | $19.5M | Appropriations powerhouse |
| 25 | [[Tarplin Downs & Young]] | $19.5M | Health-policy boutique |
| 26 | [[Williams & Jensen]] | $19.4M | Law-firm GR; DeLay-alumna-led |
| 27 | [[CGCN Group]] | $19.1M | GOP boutique; +96% in 2025 |
| 28 | [[Avoq]] | $18.7M | Dem-establishment (ex-Subject Matter) |
| 29 | [[Vogel Group]] | $16.5M | Bipartisan; Frist/Holtzman Vogel world |
| 30 | [[Hogan Lovells]] | $16.2M | Law-firm shop |
| 31 | [[Venture Government Strategies]] | $16.1M | Ex-members bench |
| 32 | [[Michael Best Strategies]] | $16.1M | Trump-world; Priebus-led |
| 33 | [[Capitol Tax Partners]] | $15.4M | Tax specialist |
| 34 | [[Monument Advocacy]] | $14.9M | Bipartisan; tech-heavy |
| 35 | [[DLA Piper]] | $14.8M | Law-firm shop |
| 36 | [[Venable]] | $14.7M | Law-firm shop; earmarks |
| 37 | [[Todd Strategy Group]] | $14.5M | GOP healthcare specialist |
| 38 | [[Alston & Bird]] | $14.1M | Law-firm shop |
| 39 | [[Harbinger Strategies]] | $13.6M | All-GOP; Cantor world |
| 40 | [[Venn Strategies]] | $13.4M | Bipartisan; tax/health |
| 41 | [[KDCR Partners]] | $13.3M | Bipartisan boutique |
| 42 | [[Ogilvy Government Relations]] | $12.5M | GOP-leaning boutique |
| 43 | [[Fierce Government Relations]] | $12.3M | All-GOP (est. 1978) |
| 44 | [[Arnold & Porter]] | $11.7M | Law-firm shop; pharma-heavy |
| 45 | [[American Continental Group]] | $10.6M | Bipartisan full-service |
| 46 | [[Rich Feuer Anderson]] | $10.4M | Financial-services specialist |
| 47 | [[HB Strategies]] | $10.3M | Husch Blackwell affiliate |
| 48 | [[Navigators Global]] | $10.3M | GOP-aligned; natsec/space |
| 49 | [[Cozen O'Connor Public Strategies]] | $10.1M | Law-firm-affiliated GR |
| 50 | [[Polaris Government Relations]] | $9.6M | Boutique (census floor) |
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## The demand side — who buys the lobbying
The census above is the *supply* side. The clients spending the most (2025 full-year, OpenSecrets; in-house + hired-out combined):
| # | Client | 2025 spent | What it is |
|---|--------|------------|------------|
| 1 | [[US Chamber of Commerce]] | $72.2M | Business federation — perennial #1 |
| 2 | [[National Association of Realtors]] | $54.4M | Trade association |
| 3 | [[PhRMA]] | $38.2M | Pharma trade association |
| 4 | [[Business Roundtable]] | $33.5M | CEO association |
| 5 | [[American Hospital Association]] | $32.0M | Hospital trade association |
| 6 | [[Blue Cross Blue Shield Association]] | $28.0M | Insurer federation |
| 7 | [[Meta]] | $26.3M | Top single-company spender |
| 8 | [[American Medical Association]] | $23.8M | Physician association |
| 9 | [[AARP]] | $20.9M | Mass-membership advocacy |
| 10 | [[General Motors]] | $19.7M | Automaker |
| 11 | [[American Chemistry Council]] | $19.1M | Chemical trade association |
| 12 | [[Amazon]] | $18.9M | Company |
| 13 | [[CTIA]] | $18.7M | Wireless trade association |
| 14 | [[America's Health Insurance Plans]] | $17.2M | Insurer trade association |
| 15 | [[Alphabet]] | $16.5M | Company (Google parent) |
| 16 | [[Lockheed Martin]] | $15.7M | Defense prime |
| 17 | [[General Dynamics]] | $13.9M | Defense prime |
| 18 | [[Raytheon]] | $13.8M | Defense prime (files as RTX Corp) |
| 19 | [[Pharmaceutical Care Management Association]] | $13.7M | PBM lobby |
| 20 | [[NCTA]] | $13.5M | Cable/broadband trade association |
The structural read: **thirteen of the top twenty are associations, not companies** — see [[Trade Association]] for why the form dominates (pooled dues, political cover, antitrust-safe coordination). Healthcare is the biggest sector bloc (six of twenty: PhRMA, AHA, the Blues, AMA, AHIP, PCMA — plus AARP on the other side of the drug-pricing fight). The defense primes cluster at #16–18. And the two sides of the PBM war (#19 vs the PBM Accountability Project, a [[Capitol Counsel]] client) both buy from this same market.
## How to read K Street
The census sorts into four business models, and knowing which model a firm runs tells you what its clients are actually buying:
1. **Proximity shops** sell access to a specific political network — the Trump-world boutiques ([[Ballard Partners]], [[Miller Strategies]], [[Continental Strategy]], [[Checkmate Government Relations]], [[Michael Best Strategies]]). Fastest growth, highest political risk: their book is a bet on one faction staying in power.
2. **Institutional bipartisan firms** sell insurance — coverage of both parties, deep benches, decades-long client relationships ([[Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck]], [[Cornerstone Government Affairs]], [[Thorn Run Partners]], [[Capitol Counsel]]). When the wind changed in 2024, these firms didn't lose the market; they **bought Trump-world benches** ([[Capitol Counsel]]'s literal "Trumps Up" press release; Forbes Tate's quiet Tate Bennett hire).
3. **Law-firm practices** sell lobbying wrapped in legal privilege and full-service capability — eight of the 21–50 tier ([[Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld]], [[Holland & Knight]], [[Squire Patton Boggs]], [[K&L Gates]], [[Hogan Lovells]], [[DLA Piper]], [[Venable]], [[Alston & Bird]], [[Arnold & Porter]]).
4. **Specialist boutiques** sell subject-matter monopoly — tax ([[Capitol Tax Partners]]), financial services ([[Rich Feuer Anderson]]), healthcare ([[Todd Strategy Group]], [[Tarplin Downs & Young]]), and the appropriations/earmark niche ([[Van Scoyoc Associates]], [[Strategic Marketing Innovations]], and its inventor [[Cassidy & Associates]] — see [[Earmarks]]).
Structural notes: the market bifurcates around a genuinely sparse $16.5–18.7M window between #28 and #29. Two firms (#11, #14) are owned by the publicly traded [[Public Policy Holding Company]] — K Street as an investable asset class. And everything above counts only *registered* activity: the [[Shadow Lobbying]], [[Influence Peddling]], and [[Cooling-Off Period]] pages cover the influence that never hits the disclosures.
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## Lenses
### Trump-world core
- [[Ballard Partners]] — #1 firm in DC; ~$88M in 2025 (+350% YoY); founder [[Brian Ballard]] is a top Trump bundler; heavy [[FARA]] book.
- [[Miller Strategies]] — [[Jeff Miller]]; $51.1M in 2025 (final, #7); clients include [[OpenAI]], Nasdaq, SoftBank.
- [[Continental Strategy]] — [[Carlos Trujillo]]; +1,400% to ~$27.4M in 2025.
- [[Checkmate Government Relations]] — [[Ches McDowell]]; $22.5M in 2025 (final, #21) from a near-zero 2024 base.
- [[Michael Best Strategies]] — [[Reince Priebus]]-led law-firm arm; $16.1M in 2025 (#32).
- [[Mercury Public Affairs]] — bipartisan shop with a deep Trump-world bench ([[Bryan Lanza]], [[David Vitter]]; ex-co-chair [[Susie Wiles]]).
- [[Targeted Victory]] — GOP digital/campaign and public-affairs powerhouse.
### Bipartisan institutional tier
The work-both-sides baseline against which the Trump-world boutiques are measured.
- [[Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld]] — top law-firm shop; $65.5M in 2025 (#4).
- [[Holland & Knight]] — $54.9M in 2025 (#6).
- [[BGR Group]] — Republican-rooted; $71.5M in 2025 (final, #3); Trump rainmaker [[David Urban]].
- [[Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck]] — $73.7M in 2025 (#2); dethroned from four straight years at #1 by Ballard's Trump-era surge.
- [[Squire Patton Boggs]] — heir to Patton Boggs, which invented the modern lobbying shop; $23.5M in 2025 (#19).
- [[Cassidy & Associates]] — earmark-lobbying pioneer (1975); $30.6M in 2025 (#10); live 2026 Egypt/UAE [[FARA]] story.
## Lobbyists
The person-by-person govt↔K Street ledger lives at [[Revolving Door Roster]] (by door type: legislators, staff, executive branch, and the reverse door into power).
- [[Brian Ballard]] · [[Jeff Miller]] · [[Carlos Trujillo]] · [[Ches McDowell]] · [[Bryan Lanza]] · [[Susie Wiles]] · [[David Vitter]] · [[David Urban]] · [[Heather Podesta]] · [[Gerald Cassidy]] · [[Tom Daschle]] · [[Trent Lott]] · [[John Breaux]] · [[Pat Roberts]] · [[Susan Hirschmann]] · [[Kai Anderson]] · [[George Sifakis]] · [[Cesar Conda]] · [[Jeff Shockey]] · [[Mark Isakowitz]] · [[Neil Kornze]] · [[Tate Bennett]] · [[Paul Arcangeli]]
- Cross-tracked elsewhere: [[Pam Bondi]] (ex-Ballard), [[Kevin McCarthy]] (Jeff Miller's former principal), [[Reince Priebus]] (Michael Best Strategies)
## Events
- [[2025 Record Lobbying Year]] — the ~$5.3B record and its concentration in Trump-tied firms; the layer's quantitative anchor.
## Connected machinery
[[Lobbying]] · [[FARA]] · [[FARA Registrant Map]] · [[Revolving Door]] · [[Revolving Door Roster]] · [[Shadow Lobbying]] · [[Influence Peddling]] · [[Cooling-Off Period]] · [[Trade Association]] · [[Campaign Finance]] · [[Dark Money]] · [[Earmarks]] · [[Public Policy Holding Company]] · [[Foreign Influence Ecosystem]]
## Active watch (Deals layer)
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