Tomorrow marks the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court's landmark decision in Buckley v. Valeo, which laid the groundwork for Citizens United. Polling timed to the anniversary shows Americans want the campaign finance system to change. But before we get to that, let's dive deep into the final lobbying reports for 2025, which show (surprise!) that political influence spending reached records heights last year.

Lobbying activity surpassed $5 billion for the first time in 2025, as corporations, interest groups and other organizations increased their spending 14 percent during the first year of President Donald Trump’s second term, according to reporting by Emma Sullivan and Hien An Ngo and based on research by Dan Auble. 

Spending reached $5.08 billion for the year, up 11 percent from 2024 after accounting for inflation. Both the adjusted and non-adjusted increases represent the largest jumps since quarterly disclosures began in 2008.

The record total came even as some of Washington’s biggest spenders, such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Realtors, cut back from their 2024 lobbying expenditures, with new groups making up the difference. In 2025, 15,768 organizations reported lobbying activity, up from 14,061 the previous year, an increase of nearly 12 percent.

Over the same period, the size of the lobbying workforce grew more modestly, with the number of registered lobbyists rising by about 5 percent.

The lobbying firms with the closest ties to the Trump administration raked in the most money in 2025. Leading the way was Ballard Partners, which shattered records by taking in $88.1 million in 2025. 

Lobbying spending increased across every sector in 2025. Consistent lobbying giants (the health sector, finance, insurance and real estate sector, and communications and electronics sector) spent the most lobbying the federal government. 

Friday, Jan. 30, marks the 50th anniversary of the Buckley v. Valeo, the landmark Supreme Court case that laid the groundwork for modern elections.

These days, everyone talked about the Citizens United case, but that 2010 ruling built on a decision issued in 1976. That year, the Supreme Court upheld limits on individuals' contributions to political campaigns, parties and political action committees but struck down caps on independent expenditures as an infringement on free speech. (Citizens United later expanded on that ruling by also allowing corporations to make unlimited, election-related independent expenditures.)

American Promise, which advocates for a constitutional amendment that would empower Congress and the states to set limits on campaign financing, just released the results of a national survey on attitudes toward the role of money in politics. 

The survey also asked whether a number of political activities are forms of protected Free Speech. Only 15 percent of respondents said spending unlimited dollars on political campaigns is protected by the First Amendment, including 22 percent of Republicans, 12 percent of Democrats and 11 percent of independents.

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Senators introduce state constitutional amendment overturning Citizens United (States Newsroom)

Trump’s return supercharges lobbying revenues (Politico)

Higher Ed Spent Millions on Lobbying in 2025 (Inside Higher Ed)

MS Secretary of State sets sights on campaign finance transparency (Mississippi Clarion Ledger)

Trump puts Republicans in a tough spot on gun rights (Axios)

The bottom line: The NRA has spent tens of millions of dollars on federal elections, primarily backing Republican candidates, according to data compiled by OpenSecrets.  

Questions raised about Rep. John Garamendi's age (CBS News Sacramento)

And according to the website OpenSecrets, in his last congressional race, Garamendi raised more than a $1 million to his Republican opponents' $20,000. 

Spending bill would block DHS from arming long-range drones (Roll Call)

San Diego-based General Atomics, which makes the MQ-9 drones, contributes to members on both sides of the aisle through individual donations and its political action committee. Top recipients in the 2024 campaign cycle, according to OpenSecrets.org, include Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., the House Democratic Caucus chair, and Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Calif., chairman of the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee.

Trump’s ‘pay-to-play’ politics fuel a ‘new gilded age’, experts say (The Guardian)

Trump’s inaugural committee raked in $14m in contributions from the crypto industry, and Trump-affiliated committees in the election raised about $3.6m from crypto interests, according to the nonpartisan OpenSecrets, which tracks money in politics. OpenSecrets totals do not include donations that were made in bitcoin or other crypto tokens which would raise the amounts from crypto interests by a few million dollars.

House Republicans barely defeat Venezuela war powers resolution to check Trump’s military actions (The Associated Press)

In one of the first transactions, the U.S. granted Vitol, the world’s largest independent oil broker, a license worth roughly $250 million. A senior partner at Vitol, John Addison, gave roughly $6 million to Trump-aligned political action committees during the presidential election, according to donation records compiled by OpenSecrets.

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