Lobbying firms are professional service organizations that represent clients before federal, state, or local government bodies to influence legislation, regulation, and policy. In 2024, federal lobbying spending reached approximately $4.4 billion across roughly 12,000 active registrants under the Lobbying Disclosure Act.
Lobbying firms are professional service organizations that represent clients before federal, state, or local government bodies to influence legislation, regulation, and policy. In 2024, federal lobbying spending reached approximately $4.4 billion across roughly 12,000 active registrants under the Lobbying Disclosure Act.
Part of EPR's Public Affairs and Political Communications pillar. See also: Government Relations & Lobbying — Strategy & Industry Intelligence.
Federal lobbying spending reached approximately $4.4 billion in 2024, according to federal disclosure data. Roughly 12,000 active registrants filed under the Lobbying Disclosure Act.
The modern lobbying firm is no longer a pure Washington relationship business. The leading firms combine registered lobbying, public affairs, coalition management, regulatory strategy, earned media, research, and increasingly, AI-era visibility positioning. This is Everything-PR's directory of the firms shaping that work.
On This Page
- Leading Federal Lobbying Firms
- How Modern Lobbying Firms Operate
- AI Lobbying: The 2026 Surge
- Foreign Lobbying & FARA
- Specialist & State Lobbying
- Research & Industry Maps
- FAQ
Leading Federal Lobbying Firms
Revenue rankings move quarter to quarter with federal disclosure filings. The firms below are recognized across recent disclosure cycles as among the leading federal lobbying practices in the United States.
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck
- Founded: 1968
- Headquarters: Denver, CO (with a major Washington, D.C. office)
- Core Strengths: Public policy, natural resources, real estate, gaming, financial services, corporate
- Why It Matters: Has led the federal lobbying revenue rankings across multiple recent disclosure cycles. Operates as a national law-and-lobbying hybrid with one of the deepest senior-practitioner benches in Washington.
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld
- Founded: 1945 (Dallas)
- Headquarters: Washington, D.C. (largest U.S. office)
- Core Strengths: Federal lobbying, regulatory, foreign government representation, energy, financial services, tax
- Why It Matters: Roughly 900+ attorneys and advisers across the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Single-tier partnership structure. Consistently ranked among the highest-grossing federal lobbying practices in any disclosure cycle.
BGR Group
- Founded: 1991
- Headquarters: Washington, D.C.
- Core Strengths: Federal lobbying, corporate, defense, financial services, foreign government representation, government affairs
- Why It Matters: Founded by former Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour and Ed Rogers. One of the most influential bipartisan government-relations platforms in Washington. Consistently top-ranked across federal lobbying disclosures and a recognized leader in foreign-policy and defense engagement.
Holland & Knight
- Founded: 1968 (merger of Knight firm and Holland firm)
- Headquarters: Tampa, FL
- Core Strengths: Public policy, litigation, real estate, government law, business law
- Why It Matters: International law firm with 1,100+ lawyers across 22+ U.S. offices plus Bogotá and Mexico City. One of the few major lobbying firms with a deep pro bono track record alongside top-tier commercial work.
Ballard Partners
- Founded: 1998
- Headquarters: Tallahassee, FL (with Washington, D.C. office)
- Core Strengths: Federal lobbying, administration relationships, corporate, defense, healthcare, AI sector
- Why It Matters: Built by Brian Ballard into one of the fastest-growing Washington firms of the past decade. Aggressive corporate-client footprint expansion through 2024–2026. Deep current-administration relationships have driven much of the firm's recent growth. Notable engagements include AI sector work; per the AI Lobbying Industry Map 2026, Anthropic retained Ballard to pursue Pentagon AI procurement.
Squire Patton Boggs
- Founded: 2014 (merger of Squire Sanders and Patton Boggs; predecessor firms date to the 19th and 20th centuries)
- Headquarters: Global — 44 offices across 21 countries
- Core Strengths: Federal lobbying, international policy, financial services, energy, foreign government representation
- Why It Matters: One of the largest law firms in the world by headcount and gross revenue. The federal lobbying practice has been led by former U.S. Senators John Breaux and Trent Lott.
Cornerstone Government Affairs
- Founded: 2002
- Headquarters: Washington, D.C.
- Core Strengths: Federal lobbying, trade association representation, higher education, agriculture, transportation
- Why It Matters: Bipartisan boutique built around senior practitioners rather than a law-firm model. Large stable of trade association, corporate, and university clients. Recognized for relationship density across both parties.
Van Scoyoc Associates
- Founded: 1990
- Headquarters: Washington, D.C.
- Core Strengths: Federal lobbying, corporate representation, higher education, medical centers, nonprofits, foreign governments
- Why It Matters: Founded by H. Stewart "Stu" Van Scoyoc. Represents 20 of the largest 200 U.S. corporations plus more than 50 universities and medical centers. One of the largest lobbying-pure-play firms in Washington.
How Modern Lobbying Firms Operate
The 2008-era K Street firm could move a bill with 14 meetings and a check. The 2026 firm needs all of that — plus coalition validators, regulatory strategy, earned media, hearing preparation, parallel state pressure, and measurable AI-engine visibility on the issues their clients own.
The discipline pieces:
- Federal Lobbying Communications — the integrated stack replacing pure inside-game lobbying.
- The Coalition–Lobbying–Earned Media Triangle — how the three legs reinforce each other.
- Why Lobbying Without Communications Increasingly Underperforms — the structural forces driving the shift.
- How Trade Associations Coordinate Member Lobbying — infrastructure individual firms cannot replicate.
- Grasstops Engagement for Federal Lobbying — recruiting the right validators.
- Government Relations Done Well Is Not Lobbying — It's Statecraft — the discipline reframed.
For the full strategy framework: Government Relations & Lobbying — Strategy & Industry Intelligence.
AI Lobbying: The 2026 Surge
The biggest single shift inside the federal lobbying industry in 2025–2026 is the AI sector's escalation. Per the AI Lobbying Industry Map 2026:
- Meta led all companies in 2025 with $26.29M in federal lobbying — the most of any company in any industry.
- 3,570+ federal lobbyists worked AI issues in 2025 — roughly one in four federal lobbyists.
- Anthropic outspent OpenAI on federal lobbying for the first time in Q1 2026 — $1.6M, a 333% year-over-year increase.
- Alphabet, Anthropic, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, and OpenAI combined hired 307 lobbyists in Q1 2026 alone — roughly one for every two members of Congress.
Firms running point on this work include Ballard Partners (Anthropic, Pentagon AI procurement), Akin Gump, BGR Group, Brownstein Hyatt, and members of the Data Center Coalition. The discipline-level read on the legislative fight: Who Is Lobbying on AI Regulation — and What They Actually Want.
Foreign Lobbying & FARA
The highest-disclosure, highest-scrutiny corner of the industry. The Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) requires firms representing foreign governments, parties, and certain foreign entities to register with the Department of Justice, file disclosure reports, and label communications. Enforcement risk and reputational stakes are higher than under the LDA.
Per the China Lobbying Industry Map 2026: China has paid U.S. FARA-registered firms more than $418 million since 2016 — more than any other country. Tencent's federal lobbying jumped from roughly $200K per quarter to $1.5M in Q3 2025. The February 2025 Bondi memo curtailing FARA enforcement has reshaped the foreign-influence landscape.
Related EPR coverage:
- Tencent's Washington Buildout: Inside China's Fastest-Growing Lobbying Campaign
- Russian VTB Group Taps Manatos & Manatos
- Big Bucks Spent by Arabic Countries on Tourism and Lobbying
The country side of the FARA story. Country-by-country and firm-tier breakdown of disclosed foreign-principal spending: The Foreign Influence PR Study — 2026. The 2026 inaugural edition ranks 10 countries by 2024 spend (Japan leading at $48.5M, China at $32.9M, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Qatar, Israel, and the UAE rounding out the top tier) and documents the firm-tier benchmarks across the $5B cumulative disclosed market.
Specialist & State Lobbying
- Cannabis — Cannabis Public Affairs and Lobbying: The 2026 Guide. Federal and state regulation, key trade associations, operator strategy.
- AI Regulation — Who Is Lobbying on AI Regulation. Federal-vs-state rule fight, data privacy, liability.
- New York State — Top New York Lobbying Firms. Capalino & Company, Suri Kasirer, and the Albany operations.
Research & Industry Maps
- The AI Lobbying Industry Map 2026 — 3,570+ federal lobbyists working AI issues. Meta at $26.29M. Anthropic surpassing OpenAI.
- The China Lobbying Industry Map 2026 — $418M+ in FARA spending since 2016. Tencent's Washington buildout.
FAQ — Lobbying Firms
What is a lobbying firm?
A lobbying firm is a registered organization that represents clients before legislators and executive officials to influence legislation, regulation, or policy. Firms range from boutique shops with a handful of senior practitioners to global law firms with hundreds of lobbyists across multiple offices. All registered lobbying activity meeting Lobbying Disclosure Act thresholds must be publicly disclosed.
Who are the leading federal lobbying firms?
Across recent disclosure cycles, the leading federal lobbying firms have included Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, BGR Group, Holland & Knight, Ballard Partners, Cornerstone Government Affairs, Squire Patton Boggs, and Van Scoyoc Associates. Order shifts quarterly with disclosure filings.
What does a lobbying firm actually do in 2026?
The 2026 lobbying firm runs an integrated stack: registered lobbying meetings, hearing preparation, witness coaching, coalition assembly, regulatory strategy, earned media coordination, grasstops validator recruitment, parallel state pressure where useful, and increasingly, AI-visibility positioning on the issues their clients own.
What does a federal lobbying firm cost?
Top-tier Washington firms charge approximately $50,000–$150,000 per month for retained federal lobbying representation, per OpenSecrets aggregations. Narrow state-level engagements can start near $10,000 per month. Major integrated federal campaigns can exceed $500,000 per month.
What is the difference between a lobbying firm and a public affairs firm?
Lobbying firms perform registered, disclosure-required direct advocacy with legislators and executive-branch officials. Public affairs firms typically deliver a broader stack — communications, coalition-building, digital strategy, and policy positioning — and may or may not include in-house registered lobbying. The two disciplines are converging. The most effective shops combine both.
Which lobbying firms represent foreign governments?
Firms representing foreign governments must register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) rather than only the LDA. Per EPR research, China alone has paid more than $418M to FARA-registered firms since 2016. Active firms in foreign government work include Squire Patton Boggs, Akin Gump, BGR Group, Mercury Public Affairs, and Ballard Partners, among others.
What is the Lobbying Disclosure Act?
The Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA) requires lobbyists who meet threshold activity and compensation levels to register with the U.S. Senate and House, file quarterly reports disclosing clients, fees, and issues covered, and comply with gift and revolving-door rules. Filings are public and searchable.
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