Lobbying expenditures dropped about $100 million in the second quarter of 2026. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)
Lobbying spending neared $1.3 billion in the second quarter of 2026, the second-highest second-quarter total since Congress started requiring quarterly lobbying reports in 2008, with pharmaceutical companies, major manufacturers and tech firms ranking among the top spenders at the midpoint of the year.
The Q2 total was down 0.5% – or, about $6.9 million – from the same period in 2025, when it set the second-quarter record, according to an OpenSecrets analysis of federal lobbying reports. The modest dip marks a cooling off after a record-breaking $1.4 billion was spent in the first three months of 2026.
A record total of 17,118 organizations combined to spend $2.7 billion on lobbying through the first half of the year, keeping overall federal lobbying on pace to set an annual spending record for the 10th consecutive year. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Realtors once again topped the list of spenders with totals down slightly from the same period in 2025.
Top firms
Ballard Partners reported nearly $30.1 million in second quarter revenue, about $20,000 less than its first quarter total. This was the first quarter of decline in revenue for the firm since 2023.
The firm, which opened its first Washington, D.C., office in 2017, has close ties to the Trump administration, previously employing White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and former Attorney General Pam Bondi. Founder Brian Ballard also chaired the Trump Victory PAC in 2016 and 2017.
The firm reported 359 clients in the first half of 2026. Its most profitable client was Bancrédito International Bank & Trust, which paid Ballard $1.3 million to lobby on issues regarding banking regulatory restrictions and requirements.
The Puerto Rican bank is in liquidation after a corruption and campaign finance scandal involving its founder, Julio Herrera Veluntini. Veluntini was pardoned in January 2026 for bribery-related charges after donating $3.5 million to Trump’s super PAC.
Other major clients include Korea Zinc, which paid the firm $1.2 million to lobby on natural resources, and Nerobreeze Ltd., which paid the firm $750,000 to promote investments and transparency regarding energy and nuclear power issues.
Nerobreeze was the firm’s most profitable client in the first quarter of 2026, before being overtaken by Bancrédito in the second quarter.
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BGR Group increased its revenue by more than 3.5% in the second quarter, raking in $21.6 million.
Like Ballard, BGR Group also has close ties to the Trump administration. The firm is led by former Trump campaign adviser David Urban and previously employed Sean Duffy, Trump’s transportation secretary.
The firm reported $480,000 in payments from Qualcomm Inc. in 2026, with half of this coming during the second quarter to lobby in support of international trade, telecommunications and U.S. semiconductor industrial base priorities.
Nebius Group, an AI infrastructure company based in the Netherlands, paid the firm $400,000 to lobby on issues related to data center, energy and federal permitting policies.
The firm’s earnings for the year have totaled $42.4 million, with 351 clients listed on its filings, an 8% increase from 2025.
Miller Strategies reported $16.3 million in its second quarter earnings, an increase of more than $1 million over the previous quarter – the biggest of any firm from Q1 to Q2. The firm was founded by Jeff Miller, a prominent Republican fundraiser who served as finance chair for the 2025 presidential inaugural committee and was appointed by Trump as chair of the US Holocaust Memorial Council.
The firm’s top clients include Coupang Inc, a technology and e-commerce company that paid the firm $600,000 to lobby on “economic development goals” in the company’s current and new markets.
HCBS Advocacy, a partnership of more than 20 national disability and aging organizations, also paid the firm $600,000 to lobby on federal policy regarding home and community-based services.
Top spenders
The organization that increased its spending the most, by percentage, compared to Q1 was the Reform Action Fund, which advocates for criminal justice reform. It grew its spending by 600%, doling out $1.8 million in the second quarter of 2026.
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Huntington Ingalls Industries, the largest U.S. shipbuilder, also multiplied its spending by more than six times, raising its total to $1.1 million in the second quarter compared to $177,780 in Q1. The company was recently awarded $76.6 billion in U.S. Navy contracts to build submarines.
Some of the organizations that topped lobbying spending lists in the second quarter of 2025 remained at the top, yet decreased their spending. Despite this dip, the largest lobbying spenders continued to be business associations and health care and pharmaceutical organizations
The highest spending organization in the second quarter was the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a business association advocacy group, which spent over $17 million. However, the organization has decreased spending by nearly 12% since Q2 of last year and 14% since Q1 2026.
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The American Hospital Association spent $6 million, a 23% decrease from the second quarter of 2025 and a 21% decrease from Q1 2026. The Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America, the lobbying group for branded drugmakers, reported a smaller decline of 2% compared to last year, but a decline of 39% since Q1 2026.
Top sectors
Most sectors saw reduced spending compared to the second quarter of 2025, with just three reporting increases. Construction experienced the largest rise, up 8.9% year over year to $21.6 million, followed by communications and electronics (up 3.3% to $169.7 million) and legal and lobbying firms (up 2.2% to $6.1 million).
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Labor and ideology-focused groups registered the sharpest pullbacks, falling 18.2% and 16.0%, respectively. Despite a 9% drop, the health sector remained Washington’s single largest spending category at $199.3 million, followed closely by finance, insurance and real estate, which held virtually steady at $177.9 million.
Top issues and bills
Federal spending was once again the most heavily lobbied issue area, followed by issues related to health, defense and taxes. A total of 4,350 clients reported lobbying on budget and appropriations during the second quarter of 2026, while 2,194 lobbied on health issues, 2,210 on defense and 1,713 on tax issues. (Lobbying disclosure reports do not break down expenditures by bill or issue, so client counts remain one of the only ways to measure intensity.)
In particular, defense lobbying held near its record early-year high, with its number of clients up 6.1% from the same period in 2025 while the U.S. continued its war in Iran. Similarly, trade lobbying maintained its heightened pace, drawing 1,466 clients during the quarter as corporations across sectors continued pressing lawmakers on international trade agreements and tariff policy.
Tax lobbying logged a notable year-over-year decrease, with 1,713 clients reporting activity in the second quarter compared to 2,206 during the same quarter in 2025 – a 22.3% drop that reflects a continued easing of activity following the legislative push surrounding the One Big Beautiful Bill Act last year.
That bill remained the single most-lobbied measure in the second quarter of 2026, with 730 clients citing the law in disclosure filings. Health care providers, financial institutions, energy developers and labor groups continued heavily lobbying federal agencies over implementation rules and tax credit rollouts established under the broad package.
Beyond that, several pieces of major legislation drove notable lobbying activity during the quarter:
- Farm policy: The Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026 surged to become the quarter’s second most-lobbied bill, drawing 273 clients – up 47.6% from the first quarter. The bill would reauthorize federal farm policy, including commodity subsidies, crop insurance programs and nutrition assistance such as SNAP.
- Housing reform: Lobbying on the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act grew to 191 clients, up from 143 in the first three months of 2026. The broad bipartisan package aims to expand housing supply by allowing more Community Development Block Grant funding to be used for housing construction, easing regulatory barriers and restricting institutional acquisitions of single-family homes.
- Permitting reform: The SPEED Act ranked fourth with 154 clients. It is aimed at accelerating environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act and fast-tracking energy and infrastructure projects – a change with major implications for fossil fuel development, clean energy projects and large-scale construction.
- Digital assets: The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act rounded out the top five with 117 clients lobbying on statutory definitions and regulatory oversight for cryptocurrencies – the top legislative priority for that industry.
Yearly funding measures also drew significant lobbying interest, led by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2026 (120 clients) and the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2026 (99).
