Trump’s return supercharges lobbying revenues
President Donald Trump’s second term is already delivering a massive payday for Washington’s top lobbying shops — especially those with close ties to the administration.
According to disclosures filed this week, Trump's wide-ranging policy upheavals across trade, tax, health care, tech, defense and energy boosted the bottom lines of almost every one of K Street's biggest lobbying firms.
Thirteen of the largest 20 firms by revenue reported growth of 10 percent or more compared to 2024. In total, they brought in nearly $824 million, up from $595 million during the final year of the Biden administration.
Several reported their highest-ever annual revenues, including Ballard Partners, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, BGR Group, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld and Holland & Knight.
"The real driver was that it's the most activity that we've seen from a first year of a new administration in a long time," said Holland & Knight partner Paul Stimers, whose firm brought in $54.6 million in lobbying revenues last year.
While federal lobbying spending has been climbing steadily for the past decade — and the typical Year 1 of an administration also juices revenue — Trump's aggressive use of executive power and influence is supercharging the trend.
“Every quarter it seems that there are more challenges and opportunities from the administration and Congress,” said Brownstein policy director Nadeam Elshami.
Some of the firms that saw the most dramatic windfalls were those with close ties to Trump and top administration officials.
Ballard Partners, which counts Attorney General Pam Bondi and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles among its alumni, signed more than 200 new clients after Trump's election. It led K Street last year with more than $88.3 million in lobbying fees — a 350 percent increase from 2024.
In the fourth quarter alone, Ballard brought in more revenue than it did in all of 2024. (POLITICO’s parent company, Axel Springer, was a Ballard Partners client for less than two months last year.)
Ballard contends that it's focused on long-term success, beyond its sharp rise last year and close ties to the current administration.
“We remain doggedly committed to growing a fiercely bipartisan firm that is built to thrive in Washington’s dynamic political environment for decades to come,” said the firm's founder and president Brian Ballard, who credited his employees for the firm's growth.
Brownstein, K Street's previous top earner and No. 2 for 2025, brought in $73.9 million in lobbying revenues last year, up from $67.9 million in 2024.
Coming in third last year was BGR Group, which employed former Wisconsin Republican Rep. Sean Duffy before he became Trump's Secretary of Transportation. It also counts former Trump campaign adviser David Urban as a managing director. BGR reported $71.5 million in lobbying revenues last year, a 58 percent increase from 2024.
Among the upstart lobbying firms that cashed in on Trump’s second term were Continental Strategy, which was launched in 2021 by former Trump diplomat and adviser Carlos Trujillo. Continental, which also employs a top former aide to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and one of Wiles’ daughters, saw its lobbying revenues skyrocket from $1.8 million in 2024 to more than $27 million in 2025.
Checkmate Government Relations, which is led by Ches McDowell, a friend of Donald Trump Jr., reported receiving $70,000 from a single client at the end of 2024 but signed 80 clients and brought in more than $21 million in 2025.
Looking ahead, lobbyists expect trade to continue driving client interest in 2026, especially as businesses await the Supreme Court’s decision on the legality of Trump’s so-called reciprocal tariffs.
Even as they forecast a slowdown in legislation ahead of the midterm elections, lobbyists say they’ll also remain busy with congressional oversight, the government funding process as well as the administration's latest foreign policy moves.
“Frankly, the lesson learned going forward is, Don't be surprised,” Elshami said.