Defense contracting transparency
Where money moves through U.S. defense — federal spending (Department of Defense), the top prime contractors by dollars received, lobbying, congressional trades in defense stocks, and the revolving door. Coverage-honest: figures we don't have yet show "—"; the contractor list is a curated set of major primes, not every DoD vendor.
Defense is the largest slice of discretionary federal spending — money Congress appropriates each year for the military and the contractors it buys from. Learn more →
Federal lobbying scoped to the defense sector — the clients and firms reporting the most spend on defense (DEF) issues, plus the defense revolving door.
Reported federal lobbying spend · $14,809,681 in 2026 · 208 activity reports across 260 filings
Scoped to defense lobbying — filings whose reported activities carry the DEF (defense) issue code. A filing's dollar figure covers all the issues it touches, so client/firm totals include their non-defense lobbying in the same filing.
Money is what lobbyists report: income a firm billed its client plus expenses an organization spent lobbying in-house — the standard total-lobbying-spending figure. Issue areas and targets are ranked by filing count, since a filing's dollar figure isn't cleanly divisible across the issues it touches.
Lobbying spend over time
| Yr | Total lobbying spend |
|---|---|
| 2021 | $30,000 |
| 2022 | $1,013,045,148 |
| 2023 | $977,001,321 |
| 2024 | $980,431,090 |
| 2025 | $1,149,702,079 |
| 2026 | $14,809,681 |
Top clients — who's spending
Interests represented, by reported spend
- AIRBUS AMERICAS INC$1,240,000
- MEDTRONIC INC$1,180,000
- SAILDRONE INC.Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) manufacturer and system operator for ocean data collection.$787,767
- INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS AND AEROSPACE WORKERS$715,000
- NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION$670,000
- DEERE & COMPANY$509,000
- TECHNOLOGY NETWORK AKA TECHNET$440,000
- REINSURANCE ASSN OF AMERICA$370,000
- AMERICAN GAS ASSOCIATION$350,000
- GLOBAL ELECTRONICS ASSOCIATION (FKA IPC INTERNATIONAL)$350,000
- AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY$312,680
- WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST LOUIS$280,000
- AMERICAN FINANCIAL SERVICES ASSOCIATION$266,000
- ONEBRIEF, INC.Military planning software platform$250,000
- AMERICAN COUNSELING ASSOCIATION$180,000
Top firms — who's lobbying
Registrant firms & orgs, by reported spend
- AIRBUS AMERICAS, INC$1,240,000
- MEDTRONIC, INC.$1,180,000
- SAILDRONE INC.$787,767
- INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS AND AEROSPACE WORKERS$715,000
- NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION$670,000
- HARBINGER STRATEGIES, LLC$640,000
- DEERE & COMPANY$509,000
- TECHNOLOGY NETWORK AKA TECHNET$440,000
- MCALLISTER & QUINN, LLC$390,000
- REINSURANCE ASSN OF AMERICA$370,000
- AMERICAN GAS ASSOCIATION$350,000
- GLOBAL ELECTRONICS ASSOCATION (FKA IPC INTERNATIONAL)$350,000
- BANNER PUBLIC AFFAIRS, LLC$340,000
- AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY$312,680
- WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST. LOUIS$280,000
Top issue areas
General issue codes, by filings
Most-lobbied targets
Government entities lobbied, by filings
- HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES221 filings
- SENATE219 filings
- Defense, Dept of (DOD)87 filings
- Commerce, Dept of (DOC)15 filings
- White House Office15 filings
- Homeland Security, Dept of (DHS)12 filings
- Energy, Dept of12 filings
- U.S. Trade Representative (USTR)11 filings
- Office of Management & Budget (OMB)10 filings
- Navy, Dept of8 filings
- Health & Human Services, Dept of (HHS)8 filings
- Education, Dept of7 filings
- Army, Dept of (Corps of Engineers)7 filings
- Interior, Dept of (DOI)7 filings
- Executive Office of the President (EOP)6 filings
Revolving door — lobbyists with prior government posts
Lobbyists who disclosed a covered position — a job they previously held in Congress or the executive branch. This is a transparency signal, not an accusation; the prior post is exactly as the filer reported it.
- ANDREW QUINNSA, LA - Rep. Hoyer14 filings
- ELIZABETH FOLEYLA - Rep. McCollum12 filings
- BRANDON REALI - Rep. Cuellar12 filings
- WESTON HAYCOCKSA, LA, PS - Sen. Tester8 filings
- ADRIELLE CHURCHILL WIESETeam Chief (OASD LA), Strategic Comms (USD R&E), Senior Director Legislative Affairs (NSC) - Trump Administration (1)8 filings
- JESSE APPLETONLegislative Assistant, Sen. James Talent; Senior Advisor, Department of Treasury6 filings
- BRETT THOMPSONLegislative Director, Sen. James Talent4 filings
- MARTIN WHITMERDeputy CoS - USDOT4 filings
- DANIEL BIRNSN/A4 filings
- MARY MOODY JOHNSONU.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions3 filings
- MARCUS P LUBINCOS-Congressman Henry Bonilla (TX-23)3 filings
- JENNY CAROLINE DEBERRYSenior Legislative Assistant/ Legislative Assistant, Congressman John J. Duncan, Jr.; Senior Campaign Finance Analyst/ Campaign Finance Analyst, Federal Election Commission3 filings
- BENJAMIN JAMES SCHULTZTechnical Advisor in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Air Force for Strategic Deterrence and Nuclear Integration.3 filings
- CASSANDRA MILLERDirector of Government Affairs2 filings
- MATTHEW WOMBLEPSM, Senate Appropriations Committee (Jul 2018 - Dec 2021)2 filings
- BRET STROGENSpecial Assistant for Energy -- Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy and Environment2 filings
- JEFF BURTONDirector of Outreach - Republican Whip Eric Cantor Chief of Staff - Rep. Mike Conaway2 filings
- JAKOB JOHNSENChief of Staff, Legislative Director, Congressman Hal Rogers; Senior Legislative Assistant, Military Legislative Assistant, Congressman Don Young2 filings
- JAMES A. CONWAYLegislative Correspondent, Congressman Stephen F. Lynch2 filings
- JASON JACKSON FRYEtom emmer MN 06 LD2 filings