Launching OpenLobby: $37.7 Billion in Federal Lobbying, Exposed

Today we're launching OpenLobby — a free, searchable platform that tracks $37.7 billion in federal lobbying spending across eight years of Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings. Every client, every firm, every lobbyist, every dollar — all from public records, all open to everyone.

The Scale of Lobbying in America

Federal lobbying is a massive industry hiding in plain sight. The data is technically public — filed quarterly with the Senate Office of Public Records — but it's buried in PDFs and clunky government interfaces that make meaningful analysis nearly impossible for ordinary people.

We changed that. OpenLobby processes 726,268 filings spanning 2018 through 2025, covering:

• 46,145 lobbying clients — from Fortune 500 companies to trade associations to foreign governments
• 7,757 lobbying firms — the K Street firms that sell access to power
• 23,545 individual lobbyists — including thousands of former government officials
• 240 government agencies targeted by lobbying activity
• 79 issue categories — from healthcare to defense to cryptocurrency

What Makes OpenLobby Different

There are other lobbying databases out there. What makes OpenLobby unique is what we do with the data:

Cross-dataset intelligence. We link lobbying filings to federal contracts, Medicare spending, and government workforce data. When a defense contractor spends $2 million lobbying and receives $4.4 billion in contracts, we show you that connection. Nobody else does this.

ROI calculations. We calculated the actual return on lobbying investment. The results are staggering — academic research suggests a 22,000% ROI on lobbying, and our data confirms it. Our ROI investigation breaks it down.

Revolving door tracking. Over 5,000 former government officials are now registered lobbyists. Our Revolving Door tracker shows who they are, where they came from, and how much more they charge compared to lobbyists without government experience.

Government agency pressure analysis. Every lobbying filing discloses which agencies were contacted. Our agency pressure page reveals which parts of government face the most lobbying — the White House Office alone appears in 109,000+ lobbying activities.

25 Original Investigations

OpenLobby isn't just a database — it's a platform for data-driven journalism. We've published 25 original investigations, including:

• The 22,000% ROI — How lobbying became America's best investment
• DOGE vs. The Lobbying Machine — $5.2 billion in lobbying fights government efficiency efforts
• Big Pharma's Lobbying Empire — The healthcare industry's multi-billion dollar influence operation
• The Tariff Lobbying Surge — A 560% spike as companies scramble for exemptions
• Defense Contractor Lobbying — How $2M in lobbying turns into $4.4B in contracts

Key Findings

Our analysis of eight years of lobbying data has surfaced several striking patterns:

• 2025 is on track to shatter records: With $6.0 billion already reported, lobbying spending is surging — driven by tariff fights, AI regulation battles, and government restructuring.
• The US Chamber of Commerce dominates: At $607.9 million in lobbying spend, the Chamber outpaces every other client by a factor of three.
• The revolving door commands a premium: Former government officials charge significantly more as lobbyists than those without government experience. Access has a price.
• Congress gets lobbied the most (by far): The House and Senate appear in over 1.2 million lobbying activities each. But the White House Office is the most-targeted executive branch entity.
• Healthcare leads all issue areas: More lobbying dollars flow to healthcare than any other category — driven by pharmaceutical companies, hospital systems, and insurance giants.

Interactive Tools

Beyond browsing and searching, OpenLobby includes several interactive analysis tools:

• Lobbying ROI Calculator — Compare what companies spend on lobbying vs. what they receive in federal contracts
• Influence Score — Our composite ranking of the most influential lobbying clients across 5 dimensions
• Spending Trend Analysis — Track how lobbying spending has evolved year by year
• Compare Tool — Put any two clients or firms side by side
• Lookup Your Rep — See which companies are lobbying from your state

Free, Open, No Strings

OpenLobby has no paywall, no login requirement, and no ads. The data comes from the Senate Office of Public Records and is processed entirely by our own pipeline. We believe transparency about who's lobbying your government shouldn't cost anything.

The platform also includes downloadable data exports, embeddable widgets for journalists, and an RSS feed of our latest investigations.

Explore OpenLobby

Visit openlobby.us to search clients, firms, and lobbyists — or start with our investigations to see what the data reveals. OpenLobby is part of the TheDataProject.AI family of free public data platforms.