Companies, labor unions, trade associations and other influential organizations spend billions of dollars each year to lobby Congress and federal agencies. 2023 was a year of the largest spending since 2014 from 12,900+ lobbyists spending $4.3 Billion (not adjusted for inflation). In 2024 YTD, $3.3 Billion have been spent by 12,500+ lobbyists.
Not surprisingly, real estate, medical, pharma, and health insurance companies are consistently near the top. From the high-tech industry, Amazon and Meta (Facebook, et al) are/were the biggest spenders. Per lobby spending on average in 2023 was $333K+, and in 2024 YTD is $264K+.
When adjusted for inflation, year 2009 was a banner year (Barack Obama was the president) of lobby spending at a whopping $5 Billion from 13,700+ lobbyists.
Credit: Raw data from OpenSecrets based on data from the Senate Office of Public Records. Chart and visual created by the author and owner of the site flyingsalmon.net. Data for 2024 covers January 1 – September 30. Data for 2023 includes spending from January through December.
