The 25 biggest in-house lobbying spenders of 2026, ranked

By Beatrix Holloway

WASHINGTON — The 137 companies, trade groups and advocacy organizations that each reported spending at least $1 million on their own federal lobbying in every quarter of 2026 together reported $1.02 billion through September, according to a Washington Inquisitor analysis of Lobbying Disclosure Act filings. Ten of them accounted for $254.85 million, or 25% of the total.

The National Association of Realtors led the list at $57.44 million, up 50% from the same nine months of 2025, followed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce at $53.18 million. Among the 112 organizations that crossed the $1 million mark in every quarter of both years, spending rose 1.5%, to $913.46 million from $899.66 million.

The figures are lobbying expenses that organizations report for their own in-house operations, which can include staff salaries, overhead and payments to outside firms. They are not the pay of any individual. Organizations may calculate the figure using either the Lobbying Disclosure Act definitions or the broader Internal Revenue Code definitions, which can count grassroots and state-level activity, so totals are not always directly comparable across filers.

The top 25

Trade associations dominate the top of the list. The Realtors, the Chamber, PhRMA, the Business Roundtable, the American Medical Association, CTIA and the American Hospital Association together reported about $204 million, about four-fifths of the top 10’s total. The largest individual companies were Meta, at $18.95 million, General Motors, at $18.40 million, and Amazon, at $13.23 million.

Where spending grew

The Realtors’ third-quarter report lists work on housing supply and affordability bills, including the More Homes on the Market Act, as well as communications with the Federal Housing Finance Agency about its housing goals and the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The Inquisitor examined the group’s spending on Oct. 27. The trade group reports under the Section 162(e) tax method, which can capture a wider range of activity than the lobbying law’s own definitions.

The American Bankers Association’s report lists bills on new bank formation, a proposed ban on a U.S. central bank digital currency and oversight of the Securities and Exchange Commission and accounting standard-setters. Koch Government Affairs, the lobbying arm of Koch Inc., lists the budget and appropriations process, housing legislation, energy and financial regulation.

Two power companies posted large increases. Pacific Gas and Electric, the California utility, lists wildfire safety, grid modernization and liability, along with “AI/datacenter siting and electricity demand,” in its report; it uses the 162(e) method. Constellation Energy, the largest U.S. operator of nuclear plants, lists nuclear fuel policy, data-center policy, permitting reform and tax-credit implementation under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in its report. The administration has said expanding domestic power generation, including nuclear, is necessary to meet demand from data centers and keep the United States ahead in artificial intelligence. Palantir’s report lists defense appropriations and Army intelligence programs.

Where it fell

Several health care organizations reported lower spending than in the same period of 2025, when Congress was negotiating the budget reconciliation law. The American Hospital Association’s spending fell 24% and UnitedHealth Group’s fell 28%. The hospital group’s third-quarter report lists bills on rural hospitals, telehealth and the 340B drug discount program, along with proposed tariffs on imported medicines. Year-to-year swings often track the legislative calendar, and lower spending does not by itself show a change in an organization’s priorities.

Retail and small-business groups also reported less. The National Retail Federation’s spending fell 30% and the National Federation of Independent Business’s fell 36%.

Artificial intelligence companies

Anthropic, the developer of the Claude models, more than doubled its in-house lobbying spending, reporting $2.11 million in the third quarter alone, according to its filing. OpenAI reported $1.53 million in the third quarter, its highest quarterly figure, per its filing, and Nvidia reported $2.15 million, per its filing. The administration has argued for a single national framework for artificial intelligence rather than a patchwork of state laws, and has said export policy for advanced chips should protect U.S. technological leadership. The companies’ spending, while growing, remains well below that of the largest established technology firms: Meta reported $18.95 million and Amazon $13.23 million.

Defense contractors

Lockheed Martin reported $12.41 million, up 7%; RTX reported $11.30 million, up 6%; and General Dynamics reported $10.10 million, up 4%. All three lobby on the annual defense authorization and appropriations bills, which set Pentagon spending and procurement priorities.

Who does the lobbying

The Chamber listed 91 lobbyists on its third-quarter report, far more than any other organization in the top 40, and 30 general issue areas, from taxes and trade to immigration and financial services. Amazon listed 23 issue areas. Counts reflect only employees who met the law’s threshold for registration in that quarter; many organizations also employ policy staff who do not register, and the count says nothing about how individual staff are paid.

Several organizations at the top of the list also hire outside lobbying firms, whose fees appear in those firms’ own reports as income. Because organizations generally fold outside fees into their own expense totals, adding the two would double count.

How the Inquisitor did this analysis

• The Inquisitor downloaded every quarterly Lobbying Disclosure Act report filed for 2025 and 2026 that disclosed at least $1 million in income or expenses, through the Senate and House lobbying disclosure API.
• It kept only reports in which an organization disclosed expenses for its own lobbying, rather than income from clients, and used the most recent amendment for each quarter.
• The ranking includes the 137 organizations that reported at least $1 million in each of the first three quarters of 2026. An organization that spent heavily but fell below $1 million in any quarter is not ranked; the Inquisitor checked several such filers, including Anthropic, Nvidia, OpenAI and ByteDance, directly.
• Year-over-year changes compare January–September of each year. Fourth-quarter 2026 reports are due in January 2027.
• Spending by outside lobbying firms on an organization’s behalf is usually also included in its own expense figure, so firm revenue and organizational expenses should not be added together.

Request for comment

The Washington Inquisitor is seeking comment on the spending figures from the National Association of Realtors, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Business Roundtable, the American Hospital Association, Anthropic, OpenAI and the American Bankers Association, and from OpenSecrets and the Campaign Legal Center, which study lobbying disclosure. This story will be updated with any responses.