“When President Trump returned to power, a group of his former campaign and administration officials started a federal lobbying practice. Mo Strategies, which has registered an array of corporate clients, is now expanding into the newly-lucrative world of pardons,” CBS News reports.
“Business is booming.”
NOTUS: “A top aide to Republican Sen. Jon Husted of Ohio maintained a paid consulting relationship with an Ohio lobbying firm while serving as the senator’s senior adviser, according to a federal financial disclosure filing.”
“Sean Dunn, who has served as Husted’s senior adviser and counsel since February 2025, disclosed working as a consultant for Statehouse Impact Group — a Columbus-based government relations and lobbying firm.”
Bloomberg: “Lawmakers who aren’t running for reelection can’t raise money for campaign committees, but they’re allowed to solicit cash for leadership PACs, separate funds for doling out to colleagues and party committees.”
“But there’s a catch: If they have any leftover money, they can take it with them. Leadership PAC funds have few restrictions for ex-lawmakers, campaign finance lawyers say.”
“Lobbyists and corporations sometimes balk at giving out money—or do so begrudgingly—to departing members, who could become competitors on K Street within months. But donations can offer valuable time with someone still in office.”
“Congress members would be permanently banned from becoming lobbyists after they leave office under a new bipartisan bill,” CNBC reports.
“The legislation would not only ban senators and U.S. House members from being registered lobbyists, but would also prevent then from being compensated for trying to influence lawmakers and staff on behalf of companies or groups — closing a loophole that would allow former lawmakers to lobby without being a registered lobbyist.”
“Roger Stone, who in the 1980s helped invent Washington’s modern influence industry, is back in the lobbying business. And he’s earning millions of dollars for his services,” Politico reports.
“With his longtime friend and former client Donald Trump back in the White House, Stone has returned to the lobbying work that first made him wealthy and helped cement his place in Republican politics. And with the president’s willingness to entertain corporate interests well established, clients are willing to pay big bucks for a lobbyist with a relationship with the president that few others can claim.”
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.”
A must-read: Devils’ Advocates: The Hidden Story of Rudy Giuliani, Hunter Biden, and the Washington Insiders on the Payrolls of Corrupt Foreign Interests by Kenneth P. Vogel.
“Vogel takes us inside Washington’s murky foreign lobbying industry, providing an unsparing look at the politically connected and morally flexible Americans who get rich working on behalf of brutal dictators, corrupt oligarchs, and pitiless arms dealers.”
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.”
“Countries across the globe have dropped tens of millions this year on lobbyists with ties to President Donald Trump as they rushed to stave off tariffs that could cripple their economies,” Politico reports.
“In most cases, the spending has gotten them nowhere.”
“As Trump has taken a scattershot approach to setting tariff rates — crafting trade agreements that set a 15 percent tariff on major trading partners while imposing rates that vary between 10 and 41 percent on the rest of the world — traditional lobbying tactics in Washington appear to have had little influence.”
“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.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
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