Federal lobbying spending hit $5.24 billion in 2025, reaching the highest level ever recorded by a wide margin, Legistorm reports.

This was a $768 million increase from 2024 and the largest year-over-year jump on record.

“President Donald Trump’s second term is already delivering a massive payday for Washington’s top lobbying shops — especially those with close ties to the administration,” Politico reports.

Wall Street Journal: “Corporate and foreign interests that used to rely primarily on paid lobbyists to pitch their case to lawmakers and administration officials are instead pouring money into trying to get their cause promoted by a group of young, conservative influencers known to be close to Trump’s staff.”

“A camera-ready pack of Gen-Z social-media natives—many of whom were too young to vote when Trump announced his first run for office—are reaping the rewards. They don’t work for traditional news outlets and are thus unshackled from newsroom ethics rules, such as the typical ban on accepting gifts worth more than $25. They don’t have to follow the disclosure laws that apply to big-money super PACs or lobbyists. And they have large followings eager to hear pro-Trump views, a gold mine for those looking to sway both Washington and the public.”

Washington Post: “It’s common for firms with ties to the party occupying the White House to experience surges in business when the governing party changes, and established firms with bipartisan practices also reported strong revenue this year. But the six firms that have seen the highest revenue growth mostly have strong ties to Trump.”

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Politico: “Much of the private sector is paralyzed by Trump’s broader efforts to leverage the might of the government to bend companies to his whims.”

“But that pressure is magnified in government affairs shops across Washington, where corporations are desperate to curry Trump’s favor and avoid his wrath.”

Wall Street Journal: “Her salaries haven’t been disclosed but people aware of her projects estimate she is set to make well over a million dollars this year… It isn’t abnormal for former lawmakers to pad their pockets after leaving Congress. But Sinema’s sheer number of projects is unusual — and so are her relationships with the party she never joined….”

“Since leaving office, the 49-year-old has pitched herself as a Republican whisperer, meeting with White House officials and helping clients navigate the Capitol.”

“After leaving office, Sinema donated $3 million from her campaign to fund a new AI center at Arizona State University but has been continuing to tap the remaining cash for flights, luxury hotels and music festival tickets. Government watchdogs have questioned her spending and said it could violate campaign finance law.”

“Donald Trump was emphatic on the campaign trail in 2016: If he made it into office, he would ‘drain the swamp’ with an expansive ethics package cracking down on lobbying. Most of those proposals quickly went by the wayside. On the campaign trail again almost a year ago, Trump decried Washington’s revolving door as a ‘big problem,’” CNN reports.

“Now, barely a half-year into his second administration, a handful of senior White House aides are already heading for the exits — and right through the revolving door between the federal government and K Street, where they’re lining up cushy lobbying gigs.”

NOTUS: “Private equity has permeated the far reaches of the global economy, from energy to real estate to journalism to bowling alleys. President Donald Trump last week signed an executive order that would greatly expand opportunities for Americans to invest their retirement savings in ‘alternative assets’ including private equity.”

“It’s not possible to capture the scope of interest in this kind of investment on K Street based on publicly available information, but it’s clear interest is growing.”

“The second Trump administration seemed poised to deliver on MAGA’s embrace of aggressive antitrust enforcement. Instead, those efforts have run headlong into power brokers with close ties to President Trump who have snatched up lucrative assignments helping companies facing antitrust threats,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The injection of politically-connected lobbyists and lawyers into antitrust investigations is a shift in an arena that for decades was a niche area dominated by specialized lawyers and economists.”

Politico: “The first six months of President Donald Trump’s term have produced a cash cow of historic magnitude for the lobbying industry, with record-breaking demand for help navigating the administration’s constant stream of policy pronouncements — or trying to avoid becoming a pay-for in the GOP’s megabill.”

“President Donald Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill,’ which he signed into law this month, includes major wins for business interests that carried out aggressive lobbying campaigns on Capitol Hill to secure favorable treatment for their industries,” CNN reports.

“An array of special interests raced to shape the legislation — carving out tax breaks for private jets, excluding potentially life-saving drugs from negotiations that would lower costs, and giving two of the world’s richest men a tax windfall for their space companies.”

“Lobbying used to be Congress-focused, but they’re not driving the show anymore. They are all now taking orders from the administration. Trump is outsize now, even compared to his last term.” 

— A Republican lobbyist, quoted by New York Magazine.

Wall Street Journal: “It is boom time in Washington for the influence industry, according to interviews with more than a dozen Republican lobbyists. The top 10 lobbying firms in Washington took in about $123 million in the first quarter of 2025, compared with about $80 million in the same time frame of both Joe Biden’s presidency and Trump’s first term.”

“Lobbyists with close ties to Trump are having a particularly lucrative year, covering their office walls with photos of the president and expanding their offices, with some firms even turning down clients because they already have too many.”

“Seeking a pardon from President Donald Trump has become big business for lobbying and consulting firms close to the administration, with wealthy hopefuls willing to spend millions of dollars for help getting their case in front of the right people,” NBC News reports.

Said one lobbyist: “From a lobbying perspective, pardons have gotten profitable.”

“On a Sunday morning in early March, President Donald Trump greenlit a Truth Social post promoting a ‘Crypto Strategic Reserve.’ Hours later, he felt like he’d been played,” Politico reports.

“That weekend at Mar-A-Lago, an employee of the lobby shop run by Brian Ballard who was attending a donor event at the resort, had personally buttonholed the president and encouraged him multiple times to tout his desire to promote the industry. She even gave him a copy of a message she thought he should write.”

“It was only after he posted that missive that Trump realized a company behind one of the tokens named in the post, Ripple Labs, was a Ballard client. He was furious and felt like he’d been used, according to two people familiar with the incident who were granted anonymity to speak candidly.”

Said Trump to his aides: “He is not welcome in anything anymore.”