Balgarianovinite.com
Lobbying expenditures reached $1.4 billion in the first quarter of 2026, the highest first-quarter total since Congress started requiring quarterly lobbying reports in 2008, as pharmaceutical companies, major manufacturers, tech firms, and business trade groups ramped up spending at the start of the year.
A total of 13,521 organizations reported lobbying activity in the first quarter, collectively increasing their spending by about $115 million – roughly 9% – compared with the same period in 2025, according to an OpenSecrets analysis of federal lobbying reports. Washington’s biggest spenders – led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Realtors – continued to dominate early 2026 filings.
Top lobbying firms
The quarter showed continued dominance by firms with close ties to the Trump administration, extending trends that defined the lobbying industry in 2025.
Ballard Partners, which finished last year as the top-earning firm, became the first to clear $30 million in a single quarter. BGR Group reported $20.8 million in revenue, joining Brownstein, Hyatt Farber Schreck ($20.3 million) as the only firms to surpass the $20 million mark.
Ballard Partners
Ballard Partners, which only entered the federal lobbying space in 2017, overtook Brownstein, Hyatt to become the highest-earning shop on K Street last year and has widened the gap in 2026. Its rise is widely attributed to its deep connections to the Trump White House.
The firm was founded by Brian Ballard, who chaired the Trump Victory PAC in 2016 and 2017. Several former Ballard Partners lobbyists now hold senior administration roles, including White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. Another former Ballard Partners lobbyist, Pam Bondi, was dismissed as attorney general earlier this year.
The firm reported 309 clients. As the firm’s most profitable client last quarter, Cyprus-based Nerobreeze Ltd. paid Ballard $750,000 to lobby on issues including promoting unspecified investments and transparency. Other major clients include Palantir, Anthropic, TikTok and United Healthcare Services.
Checkmate Government Relations
Checkmate Government Relations also continued its explosive growth. The firm reported $11 million in first-quarter revenue – an increase of more than 1,108% from the same period in 2025, when it brought in $910,000, and nearly half of its total revenue for all of last year.
The firm is led by North Carolina-based Ches McDowell, a close acquaintance of Donald Trump Jr. It also employs Chris LaCivita Jr., the son of an adviser to Trump’s 2024 campaign, and Jackson Hines, nephew of Health and Human Service Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Innovaire & Co., a Kuala Lumpur-based venture-building company, paid Checkmate $1 million to lobby on finance and other issues. Additional clients include cryptocurrency exchange Binance, the Sports Betting Alliance and AbbVie.
BGR Group
BGR Group reported a year-over-year increase of more than 42%. The firm is led by former Trump campaign adviser David Urban. Former BGR lobbyist Sean Duffy now serves as Trump’s transportation secretary.
BGR Group reported $240,000 in first-quarter payments from the New York law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, which hired BGR in March to lobby on behalf of CANPACK Group after the Russian government seized the company’s subsidiaries. The firm also received $240,000 from Qualcomm for work on issues including international trade, telecommunications and U.S. semiconductor priorities.
Other major clients include FanDuel, Verizon, the American Health Care Association, and trustees and regents from the universities of Pennsylvania, Michigan and California.
Top spenders
Health care, tech, pharmaceutical and logistics companies ramped up their lobbying spending in the first quarter of 2026 compared to the same period last year. Organizations navigating evolving trade, tech and health regulatory landscapes poured millions into lobbying the federal government.
The organization that increased its spending the most compared to last year’s first quarter was CH Robinson Worldwide, the nation’s largest freight broker. The company multiplied its lobbying spending by more than 28 times, spending $2.3 million in the first quarter of 2026. CH Robinson is currently involved in a Supreme Court case that would impact whether freight brokers operate under one national legal framework or face each state’s liability systems. The trucking broker is arguing that it is only an intermediary and shouldn’t be held liable for the safety of its drivers. In the past, the company lobbied for limiting broker liability and for clearer federal regulations.
After President Donald Trump’s administration made sweeping changes to Medicare and health care spending in his first year back in office, he called on Congress to pass his health care agenda into law this year. With the launch of TrumpRx, the president’s initiative to lower drug prices, pharmaceutical companies have poured money into lobbying.
The largest lobbying spenders continued to be business associations and health care and pharmaceutical organizations.
General Motors ramped up its lobbying in the first quarter, spending nearly 40% more on federal lobbying than it did last year. The National Association of Realtors also increased its lobbying investment, spending $15.5 million in Q1 2026, 38% more than it did during the same period last year.
Top sectors
The highest spending organizations that saw the largest growth from last year’s first quarter mirror similar sector-wide trends. The transportation sector, which includes the automotive industry, spent 14% more on lobbying in this year’s first quarter, compared to the same period last year. The finance, insurance and real estate sector spent 10% more, and the real estate industry alone increased spending by 17%.
CTIA, a trade association representing wireless communications companies, spent $7.1 million, a 33% increase from the same period last year. The wider communications sector saw an 8% increase in spending.
The largest sector growth in spending during the first quarter compared to the same period last year was by lawyers and lobbyists, primarily driven by spending by the lobbying industry itself. The overall sector increased spending by 22%, and the lobbying industry tripled its spending compared to the same period last year.
Top issues and bills
The federal budget and appropriations remained the most heavily lobbied issue area in the first quarter of 2026, followed by health, defense and tax issues. A total of 4,489 clients reported lobbying on budget and appropriations, compared with 2,167 on health issues, 2,171 on defense and 1,728 on tax issues.
Defense remained one of the most heavily lobbied issue areas in early 2026, with 2,171 clients reporting activity – up 10% from the same period last year – as the U.S. continued its war with Iran.
Trade lobbying rose even more sharply, climbing 24% from a year earlier as 1,458 clients reported activity in the first quarter, reflecting continued pressure from companies navigating the administration’s tariff policies and broader trade agenda.
Tax lobbying fell by about 13% from a year earlier – a notable pullback after last year’s surge tied to the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. In total, 1,728 clients reported activity in early 2026, down from 1,979 during the same period last year.
Despite its 2025 passage, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act remained the most-lobbied measure in early 2026, with 793 clients reporting lobbying around the law, according to OpenSecrets data. The tax and spending package, signed into law in July 2025, extended major business tax breaks and restructured federal spending on programs such as Medicaid, SNAP and student loans.
A wide range of organizations – from health care and pharmaceutical groups to energy companies, financial firms and labor organizations – reported lobbying on the measure, reflecting continued efforts to shape how the law’s provisions are implemented across federal agencies. The American Hospital Association referenced the bill more than any other client, mentioning it 10 times in its lobbying disclosure filings.
After the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, lobbying activity spread across a wide range of legislation, with appropriations bills and other spending measures accounting for much of the remaining activity.
A smaller number of policy proposals also drew concentrated attention. The Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026 ranked as the fifth most-lobbied bill in early 2026, with 178 clients reporting lobbying around the legislation. The bill would reauthorize federal farm policy, including commodity subsidies, crop insurance programs and nutrition assistance such as SNAP.
Close behind, the SPEED Act ranked as the sixth most-lobbied bill, with 177 clients reporting lobbying around the proposal. The measure would significantly narrow the scope of environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act and speed up permitting for energy and infrastructure projects – a change with major implications for fossil fuel development, clean energy projects and large-scale construction.
Housing policy also drew significant attention, with 139 clients lobbying on the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, a bipartisan package that passed the Senate in March and aims to expand housing supply by allowing more Community Development Block Grant funding to be used for housing construction, easing regulatory barriers and limiting large institutional investors from purchasing additional single-family homes.
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