BGR Group’s lobbying revenue rises 27% in 2026, to $65.2 million through September

By Beatrix Holloway

WASHINGTON — BGR Group’s lobbying arm reported $65.2 million in federal lobbying revenue in the first nine months of 2026, up about 27% from $51.4 million in the same period of 2025, according to its Lobbying Disclosure Act filings. The firm, co-founded by former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, is on pace to pass its 2025 total of $71.5 million when fourth-quarter reports come due in January.

Among the 19 large firms the Inquisitor tracks, that puts BGR Government Affairs second in 2026 revenue through September, behind Ballard Partners at $97.3 million and just ahead of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck at $64.5 million. The figures are firm revenue — the fees clients reported paying BGR for lobbying — and do not show what any individual at the firm earns.

Each quarter this year has been larger than the last: $20.8 million in the first quarter, $21.8 million in the second and $22.6 million in the third. The firm reported lobbying for 396 clients through September, compared with 349 in all of 2025. Eighty-six of this year’s clients were new, accounting for about $10.3 million in fees.

Chips, data centers and wind

Qualcomm was the firm’s largest client, paying $720,000 through September for work on “international trade, telecommunications, and U.S. semiconductor industrial base priorities,” after $960,000 in 2025. Nebius Group, the Amsterdam-based AI infrastructure company, paid $600,000 on “U.S. data center, energy, and federal permitting policy,” triple its $200,000 in 2025. Orsted North America paid $520,000 on “off-shore wind development,” with contacts at the Interior Department and the White House, up from $240,000 last year.

The quantum computing company Rigetti paid $420,000, up from $240,000, on quantum computing, appropriations and the defense authorization bill. Eustace America, a new client this year, paid $430,000 on “trade and financial services.”

Foreign clients

Several of the firm’s clients are based abroad. Wison New Energies, a Chinese energy engineering company, paid $390,000 for advocacy “on energy related sanctions,” with contacts at the State and Treasury departments; co-founder Ed Rogers and Walker Roberts are listed on the account. In January 2025 the State Department sanctioned Zhoushan Wison Offshore and Marine, a shipyard then owned by the Wison group, over work on Russia’s Arctic LNG 2 project; Wison later sold the yard to a Chinese state-owned entity. The filings do not specify which sanctions matters were lobbied. Beijing Xiaomi Mobile Software paid $360,000 on “issues affecting the technology related industry,” Alibaba Group paid $280,000 on e-commerce and trade, and the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq paid $180,000 on “bilateral US-Kurdistan Regional Government relations,” with contacts at the National Security Council and the vice president’s office. QEUK, acting for the investment funds Palladian Partners and HBK Master Fund, paid $420,000 on “issues related to debt.”

Who carries the load

Bill Viney is listed on 68 clients this year, more than anyone else at the firm, on engagements worth about $11.6 million in fees, including Qualcomm, Select Medical and the University of Michigan. Robert Wood, the firm’s chairman and CEO according to its website, whose filings list a past post as chief of staff to the secretary of Health and Human Services, is listed on 56 clients worth about $10.6 million, including the beverage and health care associations.

Dan Greenwood, whose filings list him as a former deputy assistant to the president for legislative affairs and a retired Marine officer, is on 49 clients worth about $9.4 million, including Qualcomm, Nvidia and Rigetti. David Urban, a managing director, is listed on 32 clients worth about $6.8 million, including the American Beverage Association, Citigroup, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the stablecoin issuer Circle. Urban was chief of staff to the late Sen. Arlen Specter and an executive at TikTok parent ByteDance, and was appointed by President Donald Trump to chair the American Battle Monuments Commission, according to his firm biography. Barbour is listed on 17 clients worth about $3.0 million.

The fees are what clients paid the firm for engagements on which each lobbyist is listed; several lobbyists are often listed on the same client, so the totals overlap and are not personal earnings. The firm’s website also lists retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg as chair of its advisory board and former Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., as an advisory board member. Neither is listed as a lobbyist on the firm’s 2026 filings. Earlier today the Inquisitor reported that BGR lobbyists disclosed about $1.4 million in personal political contributions in the first half of 2026.

Request for comment

The Washington Inquisitor asked BGR Group about its growth and its foreign client work, including the Wison engagement, and asked David Urban, Qualcomm, Nebius and Orsted for comment. It also asked the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, which studies Chinese influence, for comment. This story will be updated with any responses.