Companies, trade groups, labor unions, and other organizations have paid top K Street firms huge sums in 2022 to lobby and gain influence for them in the halls of Congress, according to disclosures reviewed by the Washington Examiner.
Through three quarterly periods in 2022, groups have spent over $3 billion lobbying. Five major lobby shops have dominated their competitors this year, pulling in at least $173 million combined to influence public policy, even before year-end filings are due in late January, disclosures reveal.
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Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck
Leading the pack is Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, a firm with 75 lobbyists that has been hired by 307 clients in 2022, records show. It has reported a lobbying income of over $45 million, which comes after its more than $55 million income in 2021 also ranked it as the top firm for that year.
BHFS’s biggest client this year has been Athene Holding, a financial retirement services company owned by the private equity firm Apollo Global Management. Athene Holding paid $750,000 to BHFS to lobby on tax issues related to the Build Back Better Act, a failed Democratic spending bill, and in connection to two other bills.
BHFS has come under fire in the past for lobbying on behalf of the government of Saudi Arabia. David Bernhardt, who was interior secretary under former President Donald Trump, used to lobby for BHFS in connection to mining, oil, and gas issues. The former official hasn’t been disclosed on the firm’s congressional lobbying forms since 2016.
This election cycle, BHFS employees gave over $261,000 to Republicans, or a rate of more than 52%, and $237,500 to Democrats, or roughly 47%, according to Federal Election Commission filings.
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld
Coming in second behind BHFS is Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld. Akin has nabbed 293 clients in 2022 and disclosed a revenue of over $1 billion in 2021. The firm has disclosed an income of over $39 million this year, according to disclosures.
Akin’s biggest client has been the Gila River Indian Community, an Arizona American Indian reservation, the Washington Examiner reported. The reservation paid Akin over $2.4 million in 2022 to lobby on issues pertaining to the casino and gambling industry.
The second biggest client for Akin has been ZTE Corporation, a technology company that is partially owned by China’s government. ZTE has paid Akin over $1 million to lobby in connection to several bills and to also lobby the White House, State Department, Treasury Department, and National Security Council.
The Biden administration banned ZTE and Huawei, a Chinese military-backed telecommunications firm, from selling new equipment in the United States. That decision was made in November because of concerns that China’s government may use their technologies to spy on U.S. citizens.
Other top clients of Akin include Qualcomm, a U.S. semiconductor company, the Japan Business Federation, a Tokyo-based economic group, and EQT Corporation, a Pittsburgh-based energy company. These expenditures total $1.7 million.
Still, there are hidden informal lobbying costs that firms do not typically disclose to Congress, one conservative watchdog told the Washington Examiner. This means that expenditures could be, in reality, much higher than what disclosures indicate.
“Big government is big money,” said Tom Jones, president of the American Accountability Foundation. “The numbers reported to the House and Senate by lobbying firms are just the tip of the iceberg. These firms are likely involved in tens of millions in public relations, research, and advising that has an influence on policy but isn’t reported under the Lobbying Disclosure Act.”
More than 61% of Akin employee donations, over $260,000, went to Democrats this election cycle, while Republicans received roughly 38%, or more than $162,000, filings show.
Holland & Knight
Holland & Knight, the third-highest lobbying earner in 2022, has raked in almost $32 million. The multinational law firm, which has over 35 global offices, has been hired by 288 clients. The firm’s biggest client has been WH Group, a Chinese meat and food processing company led by billionaire Wan Long. The lobbying was for WH Group’s subsidiary Smithfield Foods, a Virginia-based pork company.
H&K also received $240,000 from Alibaba Group to lobby on issues related to trade, finance, small business, telecommunications, and more. Alibaba, a Chinese tech company, was notably hit with a $2.8 billion antitrust fine in 2021 upon China’s finance watchdog group finding that Alibaba blocked sellers from using other platforms.
Rich Gold, who runs H&K’s policy and regulation group, told the Washington Examiner the firm cannot comment on its clients. Gold said, however, that it has been the busiest three years for H&K lobbying on Capitol Hill in the last three decades.
“We are not expecting 2023 to be as busy on Capitol Hill, in part because we’ve got divided government now,” he said. “And in part because the president’s legislative agenda to a great extent has been accomplished in the first two years — given they’ve basically accomplished the greatest first two years of an administration from a legislative record since Lyndon B. Johnson.”
Employees at H&K gave over $376,000 to Democrats during the 2022 midterm election cycle, or at a rate of over 59%, and over $256,000 to Republicans, or over 40%, records show.
BGR Group
Next in ranked firm income is BGR Group, a communications and lobbying shop that has disclosed over $29 million in 2022. BGR Group has posted 189 clients, with its biggest being the government of Bahrain, a country in the Middle East that is heavily reliant on oil and gas. The government paid the firm $600,000 to lobby in connection to “Bilateral US-Bahrain relations,” filings show.
“This past year bucked the trend of election years being slow in the lobbying sector, particularly with a narrowly divided Congress,” Loren Monroe, a BGR Group spokesman, told the Washington Examiner. “Our health, appropriations, and tech teams were actively engaged for months ahead of the major spending and authorization bills that were passed.”
“In 2023, divided government with slim majorities on both sides of the Capitol will require nimble and experienced bipartisan advocacy if you want to get anything passed or hope to stop harmful regulations,” said Monroe. “Particular areas where we anticipate growth are in our defense and financial services practices as there will be robust oversight, legislative and federal agency activity.”
During the 2022 midterm election cycle, over 73% of donations from BGR Group employees went to Republicans, filings show. That number was as high as 94% in 2014.
Invariant LLC
The fifth-highest firm earner in 2022 has been Invariant LLC, a consulting firm headed by lawyer Heather Podesta, who has donated large sums to Democrats through the years, filings show. Invariant has been hired by 166 clients and disclosed an income of over $28 million.
Invariant’s biggest client has been Oto Analytics, a software company that spent $460,000. Some of its other clients have included Apple, Cigna, Home Depot, and Toyota.
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Moving into 2023, Jones, the watchdog head, said he expects there to be a surge in lobbying due to Republicans gaining power back in the House. To date, the $3.7 billion nationwide lobbying spree in 2021 is the most expensive year on record.
“Divided government will ramp up lobbying — there will be more people to lobby since both Republicans and Democrats will be part of the conversation,” he said.
