Saudi Arabia Lobbying in the US: Firms, Spend and Targets

Saudi Arabia was the most active foreign lobby in the United States in 2022 and 2023, reporting at least 14,128 political activities under FARA, according to the Quincy Institute. OpenSecrets data puts total Saudi spending on FARA registrants at $421.9 million from 2016 through 2025, fourth behind China, Japan and Liberia. The Quincy Institute, citing OpenSecrets, lists Saudi Arabia with China and Japan among countries that each spent more than $100 million on FARA registrants.

The largest gap in the public record is the Public Investment Fund (PIF). A Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations minority staff report from April 2025 says only one of the PIF's U.S. consultants, Teneo, registered under FARA, and that the fund sued each consultant in a Saudi court after the subcommittee subpoenaed their documents.

Part of EPR's Public Affairs pillar, the Government Relations and Lobbying hub, the FARA guide and its Saudi Arabia coverage, anchored by the Saudi Arabia PR market guide. Companion maps: Qatar Lobbying Industry Map, China Lobbying Industry Map and Japan Lobbying Industry Map. Updated October 24, 2026, with the history from EPR's earlier Saudi influence profile.

How much does Saudi Arabia spend on U.S. lobbying?

Saudi Arabia ranks among the five largest foreign spenders on U.S. lobbying and public relations, though published totals vary by method. OpenSecrets data cited in the Quincy Institute's July 2024 brief groups Saudi Arabia with China and Japan as countries that have each spent more than $100 million on FARA registrants.

OpenSecrets Foreign Lobby Watch shows $421.9 million for Saudi Arabia from 2016 through 2025. The Government of Saudi Arabia alone accounts for $327.0 million of that, according to the same data. Saudi Arabia ranks behind China at $562.7 million, Japan at $504.1 million and Liberia at $433.0 million. See EPR's Foreign Influence PR Study for the full ranking. An earlier Center for International Policy report, covered by Voice of America in 2018, put Saudi spending at more than $27 million in 2017, with 29 firms and individuals registered and more than 2,500 political contacts.

Quincy's Qatar brief adds context for the same period. In the year before the 2017 blockade of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates each spent nearly four times what Qatar spent on U.S. lobbying and public relations firms.

Which firms lobby for Saudi Arabia in Washington?

At least nine U.S. firms have held visible Saudi engagements since 2018, representing the embassy, the Public Investment Fund, the Human Rights Commission and the Muslim World League. The table lists the terms each source reports. For the agencies that serve the kingdom inside Saudi Arabia, see Leading PR Firms in Saudi Arabia. For how the biggest of these firms rank overall, see Biggest Lobbying Firms by Revenue 2025.

What changed in Saudi lobbying after the Khashoggi murder?

Saudi lobbying contracted sharply after the October 2018 killing of Jamal Khashoggi, then rebuilt within about a year. Reuters reported that five U.S. firms, Gibson Dunn, Gladstone Place, the Harbour Group, the Glover Park Group and BGR Group, dropped Saudi Arabia within a single week.

On November 1, 2019, the Saudi embassy hired LS2group for $1.5 million through October 31, 2020. Reuters described it as the kingdom's first formal return to Washington lobbying since the desertion. By 2020, Hogan Lovells alone reported more political activities than all other Saudi-registered firms combined, and by 2022 and 2023 Saudi Arabia led every country in reported FARA activity.

The U.S. intelligence community assessed that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved the operation. The crown prince's side of the story is in Mohammed bin Salman: reforms and PR. The pre-2018 baseline follows.

What did Saudi lobbying look like in 2015?

Before the Khashoggi murder, Saudi Arabia's U.S. communications ran through traditional lobbying, PR and opinion-research firms. Qorvis Communications was the primary firm, engaged since 2002, and its billing had recently doubled to roughly $7 million per period as the kingdom managed the narrative around the Yemen bombing campaign that began in March 2015. September 2015 FARA filings, documented by The Intercept, show the scope of the roster.

Opinion measurement was contracted to Tuluna USA, American Directions Group and Zignal Labs. The contrast with the post-2018 roster is the story: today's work is more fragmented, with more specialized firms and more of it run through commercial entities such as NEOM, LIV Golf and PIF portfolio companies instead of direct government representation. FARA remains the most reliable public source, because every registration, fee and scope stays on the record.

How did Saudi lobbyists handle the LIV Golf and PGA Tour deal?

Lobbyists for the Public Investment Fund called, emailed or met with nearly every member of the Senate subcommittee that investigated the PGA Tour and LIV Golf merger before its hearing, according to the Quincy Institute. The merger was announced in June 2023. The campaign side of the same strategy, including LIV Golf and Newcastle United, is covered in Best Saudi PR Campaigns: Sports, Fashion, and Tourism.

Quincy reports that Brownstein lobbyists sent a "fact/myths document" about the merger to the offices of Senators Josh Hawley and Roger Marshall, and exchanged calls with Hawley's staff to learn what he might ask at the hearing. Two weeks after the hearing, Senator Ron Wyden introduced two bills to revoke the PGA Tour's tax exemption and end a tax break for the PIF. Brownstein then texted Senators Bob Menendez, Ben Cardin, Catherine Cortez Masto and Tom Carper to discuss the bills. Neither bill has passed.

The minority staff report of April 11, 2025 describes a second phase. It says the PIF directed its consultants to refuse the subcommittee's initial voluntary requests, and that after subpoenas, the PIF sued each consultant in a Saudi administrative court, arguing that handing over documents could harm the kingdom's national security. The report says personnel in Saudi Arabia also faced the threat of criminal penalties.

Who does Saudi lobbying target in the United States?

Saudi lobbyists target Congress first, then universities, local media and civil society groups. The Quincy Institute found the Saudi lobby contacted students and professors at U.S. universities on at least 1,500 occasions in 2022 and 2023, and coordinated embassy-official events at Iowa State, Georgia State, Georgia Tech, the University of South Dakota and the University of St. Thomas.

Firms also arranged appearances at civil society groups and local radio stations and helped place op-eds in newspapers and magazines. Brownstein's former members of Congress Mark Begich, Mark Pryor and Ed Royce are among the lobbyists the firm has fielded for Saudi Arabia and other foreign clients, per Quincy. Quincy cites reporting from The Intercept that Royce recited Saudi talking points almost verbatim in a House speech on Yemen before he became a Saudi lobbyist.

The UAE and Saudi Arabia also directed lobbying toward reversing the Biden administration's 2021 delisting of the Houthis as a terrorist organization, according to Quincy.

What does FARA miss about Saudi influence?

FARA captures only the registered slice of Saudi influence, and the gap is widest around the PIF. Responsible Statecraft reported that Boston Consulting Group, McKinsey and M. Klein testified at a Senate hearing that they had not registered under FARA for PIF work, saying outside counsel told them registration was not required. Senator Richard Blumenthal said the inquiry showed FARA needs to be strengthened.

Enforcement has narrowed too. Attorney General Pam Bondi's February 5, 2025 memo to Justice Department staff focused FARA enforcement on conduct resembling more traditional espionage, according to Sludge. For the compliance side, see the FARA compliance and diligence framework and the DOJ FARA warning for PR firms.

Some Saudi-tied lobbying now sits outside FARA entirely. Sludge reported that the New Era Fund, a Saudi defense and aerospace investment partnership the White House announced in May 2025, hired Ballard Partners in August 2025 under the Lobbying Disclosure Act. The fund paid Ballard $1.2 million, appears to have no SEC filing or public website, and listed no foreign entities as contributors to its lobbying. The commercial side of the Saudi communications machine is mapped in the Saudi Arabia PR market guide and the $64 billion brand study.

How do you track Saudi lobbying filings?

Saudi lobbying shows up in two separate disclosure systems, and a complete check needs both. Each answers a different question.

• FARA registration exhibits show the contract: client, fee and scope, such as Ballard's $60,000 monthly embassy contract reported by Sludge.
• FARA supplemental statements list political activities and are filed every six months, so the newest activity is not in the data yet.
• Lobbying Disclosure Act filings cover Saudi-tied clients that do not register under FARA, such as the New Era Fund.

Figures on this page come from sources published between 2018 and February 2026, plus OpenSecrets totals through 2025. The Quincy activity counts cover 2022 and 2023 only. Check the Justice Department's FARA eFile database and the Senate's lobbying disclosure database for newer filings.

More Saudi Arabia coverage on Everything-PR

Primary sources for this page are the Quincy Institute brief Foreign Lobbying in the U.S. and Sludge's report Foreign Interests Are Paying Millions to a Trump-Linked Lobbying Firm. The rest of EPR's Saudi section, grouped by topic:

Market and research

• Saudi Arabia PR market guide
• Saudi Arabia Marketing Study 2026
• Leading PR firms in Saudi Arabia
• Olam's $1 trillion Saudi-Israel study

Campaigns, creators and people

• Best Saudi PR campaigns
• 25 Saudi influencers turned founders
• Mawthooq influencer licensing and the creator economy
• Mohammed bin Salman: reforms and PR
• Four Seasons in the PIF era

Other Gulf and foreign-influence maps: Qatar, the UAE, Japan, the FARA guide, the Government Relations and Lobbying hub and the top lobbying firms directory.