Center for Responsive Politics  OpenSecrets.org

Editor’s Note: A good website to know about.  A lot of data on lobbying available.  

Lobbying Database  

In addition to campaign contributions to elected officials and candidates, companies, labor unions, and other organizations spend billions of dollars each year to lobby Congress and federal agencies. Some special interests retain lobbying firms, many of them located along Washington’s legendary K Street; others have lobbyists working in-house. We’ve got totals spent on lobbying, beginning in 1998, for everyone from AAI Corp. to Zurich Financial.

Total Lobbying Spending
1998$1,455,024,561$1.46 Billion
1999$1,447,296,929$1.45 Billion
2000$1,572,669,380$1.57 Billion
2001$1,640,698,967$1.64 Billion
2002$1,833,473,554$1.83 Billion
2003$2,063,548,117$2.06 Billion
2004$2,196,988,706$2.20 Billion
2005$2,443,255,142$2.44 Billion
2006$2,634,301,139$2.63 Billion
2007$2,875,059,719$2.88 Billion
2008$3,300,553,025$3.30 Billion
2009$3,502,204,934$3.50 Billion
2010$3,548,118,489$3.55 Billion
2011$3,326,967,436$3.33 Billion
2012$3,307,187,543$3.31 Billion
2013$3,231,891,794$3.23 Billion
2014$811,885,919$0.81 Billion
Number of Lobbyists*
1998$10,40610,406
1999$12,93212,932
2000$12,53612,536
2001$11,83111,831
2002$12,11312,113
2003$12,91312,913
2004$13,16713,167
2005$14,07214,072
2006$14,49514,495
2007$14,83714,837
2008$14,19414,194
2009$13,78813,788
2010$12,96512,965
2011$12,71512,715
2012$12,43112,431
2013$12,34112,341
2014$9,9279,927

NOTE: Figures are on this page are calculations by the Center for Responsive Politics based on data from the Senate Office of Public Records. Data for the most recent year was downloaded on April 28, 2014.

*The number of unique, registered lobbyists who have actively lobbied.

For each interest group, we offer:

  • Totals: A summary of political giving dating back to 1990 election cycle, including breakdowns by type of contribution and political party
  • Top contributors: A list of organizations (usually U.S. companies) that have given the most from that industry through their employees and political action committees
  • Top recipients: A list of candidates that have received the most from a particular industry

Plus more!

Sector Totals, 2013-2014

RankSectorAmountDemsRepubs To DEMS 
 To REPUBS
1Finance/Insur/RealEst$172,827,31732.9%56.0%$56,780,135
2Other$113,552,63944.7%39.3%$50,774,787
3Ideology/Single-Issue$104,239,44736.3%41.8%$37,868,120
4Misc Business$88,473,84235.6%56.3%$31,513,123
5Lawyers & Lobbyists$71,300,16160.1%33.3%$42,867,866
6Health$65,375,06640.7%54.1%$26,630,466
7Labor$48,685,90550.5%6.6%$24,569,268
8Communic/Electronics$44,451,76754.6%39.1%$24,273,419
9Energy/Nat Resource$41,260,27821.2%73.4%$8,765,169
10Agribusiness$29,485,70826.5%69.9%$7,808,021
11Construction$29,149,05125.5%63.4%$7,447,277
12Transportation$26,760,11828.1%69.5%$7,524,785
13Defense$14,054,12141.0%58.7%$5,759,730
METHODOLOGY: The numbers on this page are based on contributions of $200 or more from PACs and individuals to federal candidates and from PACs, soft money (including directly from corporate and union treasuries) and individual donors to political parties and outside spending groups, as reported to the Federal Election Commission. Donations to Democrats, Donations to Republicans, and the associated percentages are based solely on contributions to candidates and parties. Independent expenditures and electioneering communications are not reflected in the breakdown by party.
All donations took place during the 2013-2014 election cycle and were released by the Federal Election Commission on Sunday, April 20, 2014.

Feel free to distribute or cite this material, but please credit the Center for Responsive Politics. For permission to reprint for commercial uses, such as textbooks, contact the Center.


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DEFENSE

Although the defense sector contributes far less money to politicians than many other sectors, it is one of the most powerful in politics. The sector includes defense aerospace, defense electronics and other miscellaneous defense companies.

Individuals and political action committees associated with the defense sector contributed more than $27 million to political candidates and committees during the 2012 campaign cycle, with far more going to Republicans than Democrats: $16.4 million versus $11 million. [Read more Background]

Top Contributors, 2013-2014

ContributorAmount
Lockheed Martin  $1,756,424
Northrop Grumman  $1,745,083
Boeing Co  $1,568,046
Raytheon Co  $1,324,348
United Technologies  $934,100
General Dynamics  $745,408
BAE Systems  $604,685
Huntington Ingalls Industries  $549,494
Harris Corp  $305,964
L-3 Communications  $273,480
SAIC  $273,275
Honeywell International  $266,540
DRS Technologies  $244,750
DynCorp International  $228,372
General Electric  $208,500
Alliant Techsystems  $205,686
Sierra Nevada Corp  $200,580
Emergent Biosolutions  $184,450
Exelis Inc  $164,000
Airbus Group  $147,000
Contributions to Democrats  Republicans  Outside Spending Groups 

…view more Contributors

Contribution Trends, 1990-2014

Top Industries Lobbying on Defense, 2014

IndustryTotal
Defense Aerospace $15,432,546
Misc Defense $8,851,923
Defense Electronics $7,019,009

Lobbying Totals, 1998-2014

Party Split, 1990-2014

Top Recipients, 2013-2014

CandidateOfficeAmount
Durbin, Dick (D-IL)Senate $217,050
Cornyn, John (R-TX)Senate $200,500
Thornberry, Mac (R-TX)House $176,950
McKeon, Buck (R-CA)House $168,550
Moran, Jim (D-VA)House $168,050

Related

STUDY: 422% INCREASE SINCE 1998 IN FORMER GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS AS LOBBYISTS

HALF OF RETIRING SENATORS BECOME LOBBYISTS, UP 1,500% IN 40 YEARS

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By Published On: May 18th, 2014Comments Off on Lobbying: Statistics and Trends, especially Defense

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