WASHINGTON — Former Sen. Jon Tester, the Montana Democrat who served 18 years in the Senate, has taken an advisory role with Palantir Technologies, the data and software company whose work for federal agencies has drawn scrutiny from Democrats who will control both chambers of Congress in January.
“My agreement with Palantir is advisory in nature, it is not lobbying,” Tester told NPR, which first reported the hire on Monday. He said he will focus on the government-services side of the company. “Perception is reality in Washington, D.C. and in politics in general,” he said. “But the fact is, I think Palantir has got a good story to tell, and they need to tell it.”
Tester told the Montana Free Press that the company first approached him in July, before the midterm results, and that his role is “consulting as needed.” He declined to disclose his pay. “Let’s just say that they’re pulled in front of a committee. I’m more than happy to talk [to the company] about the different members on the committee that I know,” he said.
A company bracing for oversight
Palantir, co-founded by Peter Thiel and led by chief executive Alex Karp, holds about $2 billion in federal contracts, mostly with the Defense, Homeland Security and State departments, NPR reported. Its work for Immigration and Customs Enforcement has made it a target for Democrats; earlier this year Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and 30 other Democrats pressed the company about its Homeland Security contracts, and Palantir said it is “neither conducting nor enabling mass surveillance of American citizens,” according to NPR.
Wyden, in line to chair the Finance Committee, signaled more to come. “Senator Wyden has a number of questions about Palantir’s work to facilitate the Trump-Vance abuse of government data that he intends to ask again as chairman of the Finance Committee,” his staff told NPR. “If Palantir is not responsive next year, compulsory processes will be on the table.”
Tester, a longtime critic of the Patriot Act, said the company shares his views on privacy. “I’ve talked to many people within Palantir. They believe the same way I do. This is an organization that believes in privacy,” he told NPR. Palantir has long said it builds tools for agencies and companies to organize their own data rather than collecting data itself.
Aya Ibrahim, a senior fellow at the AI Now Institute, told NPR that the timing is no coincidence. “These companies have an inordinate amount of money and they will try and put it wherever they can in order to stave off any real accountability,” she said.
What the lobbying records show
Tester says he is not a lobbyist, and he does not appear on Palantir’s lobbying disclosures. Those records show the company already spends heavily in Washington. Palantir reported $2.11 million in in-house lobbying expenses for the third quarter, after $1.98 million in the first quarter and $2.08 million in the second, according to its filings with Congress.
It also retains at least 11 outside firms. Third-quarter reports list fees of $220,000 from Miller Strategies, $120,000 each from Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck and Ferox Strategies, $110,000 each from Alpine Group and Red+Blue Strategies, and $100,000 each from Invariant and Avoq, the Democratic firm co-founded by Steve Elmendorf. Avoq registered for Palantir in June, with a lobbying start date of May 1.
| Firm | Q3 2026 income from Palantir |
|---|---|
| Miller Strategies | $220,000 |
| Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck | $120,000 |
| Ferox Strategies | $120,000 |
| Alpine Group Partners | $110,000 |
| Red+Blue Strategies | $110,000 |
| Avoq | $100,000 |
| Invariant | $100,000 |
| Cornerstone Government Affairs | $80,000 |
| Anchor & Arrow | $30,000 |
| Penn Avenue Partners | $30,000 |
Ballard Partners also filed a third-quarter report for Palantir without listing an income figure. Lobbying firms report income in $10,000 increments, and in-house totals can include some payments to outside firms, so the figures should not be added together.
A familiar move after a wave election
Palantir is not alone in courting Democrats. Politico Influence reported last week that Democratic lobbyists expect a surge of business once the party takes the gavels. BGR Group on Nov. 6 announced it had hired Kathryn Toomajian, a seven-year Democratic staffer on the Senate appropriations subcommittee that funds health and education programs.
Tester, who lost his 2024 race to Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., has served on an Anthropic advisory council since August 2025, the Montana Free Press reported. He told NPR the midterms were a blue “tidal wave” and that he expects a change in immigration enforcement. “I don’t think you’re going to see the kind of aggressive tactics that were taken forth by ICE moving forward,” he said.
Federal ethics law bars former senators from lobbying members and staff of Congress for two years after they leave office. Tester’s Senate term ended in January 2025, so that restriction runs into January 2027.
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