Akin Gump’s lobbying revenue rises 11% as Nippon Steel fees shrink after the U.S. Steel deal

By Beatrix Holloway

WASHINGTON — Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld reported $54.7 million in federal lobbying revenue in the first nine months of 2026, up about 11 percent from $49.2 million in the same period of 2025, even as fees from its largest client of last year, Nippon Steel, fell to a fraction of their former level, according to the firm’s Lobbying Disclosure Act filings.

Nippon Steel paid Akin $3.42 million for lobbying in 2025, more than any other client, according to the firm’s 2025 reports. That included $1.65 million in the first quarter and $1.2 million in the second, when the reports listed “the proposed merger of Nippon Steel and US Steel.” The Japanese company’s $14.9 billion purchase of U.S. Steel, which President Joe Biden had blocked in January 2025, closed on June 18, 2025 after President Donald Trump approved a revised deal that gave the U.S. government a “golden share” in the company.

Since then, Nippon Steel’s payments have dropped to $120,000 a quarter, for $360,000 so far this year, with the filings listing “issues related to the steel industry post deal closure.” The firm’s fourth-quarter 2025 report for the client listed former Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., who chaired the House Foreign Affairs Committee from 2011 to 2013, among its lobbyists, according to the filing.

The figures are firm revenue, the fees clients paid Akin for lobbying, and do not show what any lawyer or lobbyist at the firm earns.

Quarter by quarter

Who replaced the steel fees

The firm’s largest client in 2026 is the Gila River Indian Community of Arizona, which paid $1.86 million through September, including $620,000 in the third quarter, on issues including Colorado River drought and water conservation. The Partnership to Address Global Emissions paid $1.35 million on “LNG exports, methane emissions reductions, climate solutions, and permitting reform,” with former Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., among the lobbyists listed. TP-Link Systems, the router maker, paid $1.23 million on cybersecurity and the ROUTERS Act, according to its filings.

Several of the firm’s larger 2026 clients did not appear in its 2025 reports. TI Capital Management paid $810,000 on “the ramifications of U.S. investment in Djibouti” and a “foreign investment dispute,” according to its third-quarter report. Compañía de Ferrocarriles Chiapas-Mayab, a Mexican railroad, paid $690,000 on “international investment” (filing). Spotify paid $430,000 on digital trade, with Kelly Ann Shaw, a former deputy director of the National Economic Council in the first Trump administration, among the lobbyists listed (filing). Wetstone Holdings paid $450,000 on offshore critical-mineral exploration (filing).

Where Akin ranks

Among the largest lobbying firms, Akin ranks fourth in 2026 revenue through the third quarter, behind Ballard Partners ($98.1 million), BGR Government Affairs ($65.2 million) and Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck ($64.5 million), and ahead of Miller Strategies ($51.3 million), according to an Inquisitor review of their filings.

Request for comment

The Washington Inquisitor asked Akin Gump about its 2026 revenue and its work for Nippon Steel, and asked U.S. Steel, Ballard Partners, Public Citizen and the Revolving Door Project for comment. This story will be updated with any responses.