Trade groups and companies responsible for this year’s largest lobbying expenditures so far upped the ante in the first half of 2024 compared to a year earlier, defying expectations for an election year slump.
K Street’s top 10 clients shelled out $162.3 million through June, up 13 percent from the first half of 2023. Part of that was due to heavy legislative activity during the first quarter, which saw enactment of two big spending packages and House passage of a $79 billion tax bill that got hung up in the Senate.
Topping the list are old standbys that regularly populate the top 10: the U.S. Chamber of Commerce; National Association of Realtors; Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, known as PhRMA; American Medical Association; American Hospital Association; and Business Roundtable. All boosted their lobbying expenditures in the first half of this year above the same period in 2023.
