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Lobbying firms earned a record $2.2 billion in 2024, according to a new analysis by OpenSecrets, continuing an upward trend that began in 2016. Earnings for lobbying firms have increased by almost $1 billion over the past decade, totaling almost $19 billion since 2014.
Overall lobbying spending, which includes in-house lobbying as well as outside firms, has also been growing steadily since 2016, reaching a record-high of $4.4 billion last year as companies responded to Biden administration policies and prepared for the possible return of Donald Trump to the White House.
“When you have a huge wave of change coming, people hire more lobbyists,” said James Thurber, a professor emeritus at American University and an expert on campaigns and lobbying. He added that the same holds when an administration pushes for a lot of policy changes – which Trump is doing at a breakneck pace.
“With the Trump administration people started tearing the federal government down,” said Meredith McGehee, an expert on Congress, ethics and money in politics. “You need representation in Washington to make the case why your money should be spared.”
The changes are reflected in the rising number of organizations that hire outside lobbyists. In 2024, companies used 13,095 outside lobbyists – a 3 percent year-over-year increase from 12,712. (Thurber noted that “the real number is probably much higher” because of shadow lobbying: the practice of influencing policy without registering as lobbyists.)
Companies had not hired that many outside lobbyists since 2008 (13,176) and 2009 (14,036), coinciding with the financial crisis and the shift from the George W. Bush administration to Barack Obama’s presidency.
“[It was] a pretty dramatic change in terms of policy. The administrations had totally different priorities,” said McGehee, explaining the big numbers from those years. “And you had this huge crisis.”
Biggest earner
The lobby firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck reported the highest earnings in 2024. Its 309 clients paid the company nearly $67.7 million, an increase of $5.2 million from 2023. It took in more money from Apollo Global Management than any other client, totaling $6.1 million. Additional clients included Tencent Holdings, the Navajo Nation and the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Organizing Committee.
The firm employed the highest number of lobbyists (80) in 2024. More than half of them were “revolvers” – former government officials and staffers who became lobbyists – including two former members of Congress.
“Firms hire people who have contacts in the executive branch and in Congress,” Thurber explained. “They come from a place where they know people, they know the personalities and policies of people. They hire them to help them strategically intervene and lobby for their clients.”
Brownstein lobbied most on issues related to taxes, health issues and natural resources.
The bill the company lobbied on the most in 2024 was the Share the Savings with Seniors Act, which would have reduced costs for chronic care drugs under Medicare’s prescription drug program. Eight clients directed Brownstein to lobbying on that legislation.
Most clients
Cornerstone Government Affairs earned over $48.2 million in 2024 by lobbying for its 333 clients, an increase of more than $7 million. The firm’s largest client was Alphabet Inc through its subsidiary Google ($770,000). Other clients include Nebius Group, CoBank and the philanthropist Jay Alix.
The company employed 79 lobbyists, of whom more than half previously worked in the federal government.
The firm’s top lobbying issues related to federal spending, defense and health issues.
Cornerstone was hired by clients to lobby on last year’s omnibus spending bill and the Farm, Food, and National Security Act more than any other issue.
Biggest increase in earnings
Avoq LLC saw the biggest increase in earnings in 2024. The firm was established through the merger of the lobbying firm Subject Matter and the public relations firm Kivvit. Avoq grew its earnings to almost $20 million within one year and attracted 99 clients. The largest part of its earnings came from the Chinese genomics company BGI Shenzhen ($580,000), Goldman Sachs ($480,000) and Delta Air Lines ($360,000).
The firm employed only 14 lobbyists, including 12 revolvers.
The most-lobbied issues were related to federal spending, taxes, and science and technology.
Avoq was hired by the highest number of clients to lobby on the American Privacy Rights Act of 2024.
Biggest increase of clients between quarters
Reflecting the election results, Ballad Partners showed the greatest increase of clients between the third and fourth quarters of 2024. CEO Brian Ballard donated more than $250,000 of his own money to Trump’s joint fundraising committee last year, and two key members of the new Trump administration — White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Attorney General Pam Bondi — previously worked as lobbyists for Ballad Partners. The firm saw an increase of 33 clients, reaching a total of 149 for Q4.
Ballad Partners was hired by a total of 174 clients in 2024, bringing in more than $19.3 million. Its largest clients included Safe Port Terminals, Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits, US Sugar and British American Tobacco (Reynolds American). Among its 23 lobbyists, 10 are revolvers, including a former member of congress.
Miller Strategies is another firm that saw its number of clients increase significantly from the third to the fourth quarter, bringing in 14 new clients. The CEO of Miller Strategies, former Rep. Jeff Miller, donated extensively to the Trump campaign. In 2023 and 2024, he donated more than $100,000 to committees supporting Trump. In 2019 he raised more than $1 million for Trump’s reelection campaign.
The fading lines between lobbyists and government is not new to Trump, according to Thurber. (According to an investigation by ProPublica, Trump hired 281 former lobbyists, four times more than Obama, despite pledging to “drain the swamp.”)
“The consequences are that specialized interests have a seat at the table and the public interest does not,” Thurber said.
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