About OpenLobby
An independent data journalism project making federal lobbying data accessible, searchable, and understandable.
The Problem
The Lobbying Disclosure Act requires lobbyists to file quarterly reports with the Senate. These filings are public record — but they're buried in a government database with a terrible interface. Most people have no idea who's lobbying their representatives, how much they're spending, or what they want.
What We Do
We download every lobbying filing from the Senate LDA database, process it, and present it in a way that's actually useful. Search by client, firm, lobbyist, issue, or keyword. Track spending trends over time. Read our investigations into the most interesting patterns.
The Data
- 726,000+ lobbying filings (2018–2025)
- 46,000+ clients tracked
- 23,500+ lobbyists profiled
- 7,700+ firms analyzed
- $37.7B total lobbying income
- $6.0B spent in 2025 — a record
Part of TheDataProject
OpenLobby is part of TheDataProject.ai, a portfolio of data journalism sites making public government data accessible.
Our Mission
We believe that in a democracy, citizens have a right to know who is trying to influence their government and how much they're spending to do it. While lobbying disclosure filings are technically public records, they're buried in a government database with a terrible search interface that makes meaningful analysis nearly impossible for ordinary people.
OpenLobby changes that. We download every filing, normalize the data (fixing inconsistent entity names, standardizing amounts, linking lobbyists to clients), and present it in a way that's genuinely useful. Whether you're a journalist investigating corporate influence, a researcher studying policy outcomes, or a citizen curious about who's lobbying your representative — this data is for you.
How We're Different
Cross-Dataset Analysis
We don't just show lobbying data in isolation. Our Lobbying ROI Calculator cross-references lobbying spending with federal contract awards from USASpending.gov, revealing staggering returns — like the contractor that spent $270K lobbying and received $13.4 billion in contracts.
AI-Powered Insights
We use AI to generate narrative summaries of lobbying trends, identify emerging patterns, and make complex data accessible. Every client, firm, and issue page includes AI-generated analysis that puts the numbers in context.
Influence Scoring
Our proprietary Influence Score combines five dimensions — spending, lobbyist count, revolving door connections, issue breadth, and longevity — into a single 0-100 metric that captures total lobbying influence.
Open Data
No paywall, no login, no ads. All of our processed data is freely downloadable. We believe transparency tools should be transparent themselves.
What You Can Do on OpenLobby
Frequently Asked Questions
How often is the data updated?
We update our database as new quarterly filings are published by the Senate Office of Public Records. Most filings are available within a few weeks of the quarterly deadline.
Can I use OpenLobby data in my research or reporting?
Absolutely. All data is public record. We encourage journalists, researchers, and citizens to cite OpenLobby and link back to the relevant pages. Our processed datasets are freely downloadable.
How accurate is the lobbying data?
LDA filings are self-reported by lobbyists. While filing is required by law, the accuracy depends on filer compliance. Income and expense amounts are often rounded. See our methodology page for full details on how we process the data.
Does high lobbying spending mean corruption?
Not necessarily. Lobbying is a legal, constitutionally protected activity. High spending indicates strong interest in influencing policy, but being a top spender doesn't imply wrongdoing. Our job is to make the data transparent so citizens can draw their own conclusions.
Transparency About Our Work
No Corporate Funding
OpenLobby is not funded by any lobbying firm, trade association, or corporation that appears in our data. We are an independent project within TheDataProject.ai portfolio, sustained by organic traffic and data journalism.
Non-Partisan Analysis
We don't take sides in policy debates. Our job is to show who is lobbying, how much they're spending, and what they're lobbying on. Both parties and all industries are covered equally. The data speaks for itself.
Start Exploring
Dive into the data yourself. Search for any company, lobbyist, or issue — or start with our investigations.
Data Sources: Senate LDA Filings (lda.senate.gov) · Lobbying Disclosure Act Reports
Last updated: February 2026
This site is an independent journalism project. Analysis and editorial content are not affiliated with or endorsed by any government agency.
Our Data Pipeline
OpenLobby ingests lobbying disclosures directly from the Senate's LDA filing system, processes them through automated pipelines, and makes the data searchable within hours of filing. Our database contains 726,000+ filings spanning 2018-2026, covering every registered lobbyist, client, and issue code in the federal lobbying ecosystem.
We also cross-reference lobbying data with federal contract awards from USASpending.gov to calculate lobbying ROI metrics, and we track revolving-door connections between government service and lobbying careers. For full details on our data processing approach, see our methodology page.
Why Transparency Matters
Federal lobbying is a $6 billion industry that shapes every major policy decision in Washington. Yet most citizens have no visibility into who is lobbying their representatives, how much is being spent, or which issues are driving the most activity. OpenLobby exists to close that gap.
We believe that lobbying transparency is a prerequisite for informed citizenship. Whether you think lobbying is a healthy part of democracy or a corrupting influence, you deserve to see the data. Every analysis on this site is free, every dataset is downloadable, and every finding is sourced to official records.
Part of TheDataProject.ai
OpenLobby is part of TheDataProject.ai, a portfolio of 60+ data-driven websites aggregating public records across healthcare, transportation, finance, housing, education, and more. Our mission is to make public data accessible and useful for everyone.
Other projects in the portfolio include OpenSpending.us (federal contract tracking), NationalHealthRatings.com (healthcare facility data), and PPPLoanLookup.com (Paycheck Protection Program data).
For Journalists and Researchers
OpenLobby is designed to be a resource for investigative journalism and academic research. Our downloadable datasets provide clean, structured data ready for analysis. Our methodology is fully documented so you can verify and extend our work. If you use OpenLobby data in your reporting or research, we'd love to hear about it.
What Makes OpenLobby Different
Unlike legacy lobbying databases that require expensive subscriptions, OpenLobby is built on a simple principle: public data should be publicly accessible. We don't just mirror government filings — we process, normalize, and cross-reference them to reveal patterns that raw data cannot show. Our revolving door tracking, lobbying ROI calculations, and momentum analysis go beyond simple disclosure to provide genuine insight into how influence works in Washington.
Contact and Feedback
Found an error in our data? Have a tip for an investigation? Want to collaborate on a research project? We welcome feedback from journalists, researchers, advocacy organizations, and citizens. The best lobbying transparency comes from community engagement with the data.
OpenLobby is continuously updated as new Senate LDA filings become available. Our goal is to be the most comprehensive, accessible, and up-to-date source for federal lobbying data anywhere. Help us get there by exploring, sharing, and building on our work.
Data Notes & Methodology
All data on this page is sourced from Senate Office of Public Records lobbying disclosure filings under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995. Figures reflect reported spending as filed and may be subject to amendment. Quarterly totals are annualized where noted.
Industry classifications follow the Center for Responsive Politics methodology. Where companies operate across multiple sectors, spending is attributed to the primary business classification. Foreign entity designations follow FARA and LDA Section 4 definitions.
Year-over-year comparisons use inflation-adjusted figures (2026 dollars) unless otherwise noted. Historical data extends back to 1998 when electronic filing became mandatory.
For questions about our data or methodology, see our full methodology page or contact us.