Federal lobbyists are slated to spend in record numbers this year after lobbyists raked in $2 billion in the first two quarters of 2022 alone — an all-time high.
The analysis of lobbyists’ financial disclosures by OpenSecrets follows record spending by lobbyists earlier this year. Just in the first quarter of 2022, lobbyists reported spending a whopping $1.1 billion. With another record-breaking haul spread between roughly 11,400 lobbyists, their spending is set to break the last record of almost $3.8 billion, set just last year.
The federal budget is a top issue for lobbyists, with lobbyists trying to affect appropriations and funding bills. The top spenders so far this year are the conservative U.S. Chamber of Commerce, real estate lobbying firm the National Association of Realtors, Big Pharma lobbyist PhRMA and health insurance group Blue Cross Blue Shield.
The top two spenders spent eight figures each on lobbying in Q2, with corporate lobbyist U.S. Chamber of Commerce spending $16.2 million on federal issues and the National Association of Realtors spending $14.9 million. This lobbying came as everyday Americans struggled with inflation while corporations raked in record profits and rents and home prices became ever more unaffordable for middle and lower income Americans.
Other top lobbyists, all of which spent millions of dollars in Q2, included corporate behemoths like Meta, Amazon, Pfizer and Pentagon contractor Lockheed Martin.
OpenSecrets notes that the revolving door between lobbying firms and Capitol Hill remains as open as ever. In the industry with the top spending in Q1, the health sector, nearly half of the 3,130 lobbyists that were active last year were former government employees. In fact, at least seven former House representatives registered as lobbyists in Q2, the report finds.
The findings come as political spending by corporations and the wealthy steadily increases each year. Thanks to the Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, wealthy donors, corporations and interest groups can spend an unlimited amount of money to influence elections and policy.
This has resulted in major imbalances in which groups have a say in politics. Last month, Americans for Tax Fairness found that nearly half of the funding raised by the two major Republican congressional PACs came from just 27 billionaires. The billionaires, including people like Fox News founder Rupert Murdoch, have spent a towering $89.4 million so far this cycle, with most of the 27 gleaning their fortunes from Wall Street.
As a consequence of Citizens United, billionaires spent nearly 40 times more on elections than what they spent 12 years ago, when the case was decided. In 2022, billionaires spent $1.2 billion on elections — up nearly $1 billion from the $31 million given by billionaires in the 2010 election cycle.
This spending pays off in a major way for deep-pocketed interests. Between the 55 corporations that paid zero dollars in federal income taxes in 2020, for instance, the groups spent a combined nearly $450 million in lobbying and campaign contributions since 2015 — which translated to $12 billion in tax savings and rebates for the companies in 2020.
We’re not backing down in the face of Trump’s threats.
As Donald Trump is inaugurated a second time, independent media organizations are faced with urgent mandates: Tell the truth more loudly than ever before. Do that work even as our standard modes of distribution (such as social media platforms) are being manipulated and curtailed by forces of fascist repression and ruthless capitalism. Do that work even as journalism and journalists face targeted attacks, including from the government itself. And do that work in community, never forgetting that we’re not shouting into a faceless void – we’re reaching out to real people amid a life-threatening political climate.
Our task is formidable, and it requires us to ground ourselves in our principles, remind ourselves of our utility, dig in and commit.
As a dizzying number of corporate news organizations – either through need or greed – rush to implement new ways to further monetize their content, and others acquiesce to Trump’s wishes, now is a time for movement media-makers to double down on community-first models.
At Truthout, we are reaffirming our commitments on this front: We won’t run ads or have a paywall because we believe that everyone should have access to information, and that access should exist without barriers and free of distractions from craven corporate interests. We recognize the implications for democracy when information-seekers click a link only to find the article trapped behind a paywall or buried on a page with dozens of invasive ads. The laws of capitalism dictate an unending increase in monetization, and much of the media simply follows those laws. Truthout and many of our peers are dedicating ourselves to following other paths – a commitment which feels vital in a moment when corporations are evermore overtly embedded in government.
Over 80 percent of Truthout‘s funding comes from small individual donations from our community of readers, and the remaining 20 percent comes from a handful of social justice-oriented foundations. Over a third of our total budget is supported by recurring monthly donors, many of whom give because they want to help us keep Truthout barrier-free for everyone.
You can help by giving today during our fundraiser. We have 8 days to add 460 new monthly donors. Whether you can make a small monthly donation or a larger gift, Truthout only works with your support.