The Surge Is Real
Every time Washington expands its reach — a new regulation, a new agency, a new spending program — it creates a new crop of organizations that suddenly need lobbyists. Our data tracks this phenomenon in real time by identifying every organization that appears in lobbying disclosures for the first time.
The numbers tell a clear story: the regulatory state is expanding, and the private sector is being dragged to K Street whether it wants to be there or not.
First-Time Lobbying Filers by Year
Source: OpenLobby analysis of LDA first-time filings. 2018 baseline (19,902) excluded as it represents the start of our tracking window.
From 3,796 new filers in 2019, the count jumped to 5,342 in 2021 (the Biden administration's first year, with massive new spending bills), dipped slightly through 2022–2024, then exploded to 6,997 in 2025. That 2025 surge — an 84% increase over 2019 — coincides with the return of tariffs, the DOGE initiative threatening agency budgets, AI regulation proposals, and cryptocurrency legislation.
Who Are These New Filers?
Scrolling through the latest first-time filers is like reading a snapshot of every policy battle roiling Washington. Here are some of the most revealing recent entrants:
The AI Wave
AI Salon — self-described as "a community small business that advocates shaping AI policy" — filed its first lobbying disclosure in Q4 2025. It's a perfect symbol of the moment: even small AI businesses now feel they need a voice in Washington. When the government proposes to regulate your core technology, silence isn't an option.
Data Recognition Corporation, a Minnesota-based education technology company, also appeared for the first time in Q4 2025. As AI transforms testing, grading, and educational assessment, companies that never needed lobbyists are suddenly discovering that the Department of Education has opinions about their products.
Crypto Keeps Coming
CYVL, a Massachusetts-based "Digital Asset Intelligence" firm, filed its first disclosure in Q4 2025 through Boundary Stone Partners. It joins a growing parade of crypto and fintech firms that have descended on Washington. The digital asset industry went from zero lobbying presence to one of the fastest-growing sectors in K Street in barely five years. (See our investigation into the crypto lobbying explosion.)
Phillip Frederick Camino, filing under "Financial Services," represents the type of individual financial services provider that's increasingly feeling the squeeze of new SEC and CFPB rules.
Healthcare's Never-Ending Expansion
The healthcare sector dominates first-time filers, which tells you everything about the regulatory burden on American medicine. Recent new entrants include:
- Restore First Health (FL) — a healthcare provider
- GuideStar ElderCare (IN) — an elder care provider filing through Loper Consulting
- Knox Community Hospital and Rhea Medical Center — small community hospitals that apparently now need lobbyists
- Cochlear North America — a medical device manufacturer navigating FDA regulations
- ByHeart, Inc. — an infant formula manufacturer that presumably discovered how regulated its industry became after the 2022 formula shortage
- Haleon US Holdings — a consumer health company (formerly GSK Consumer Healthcare)
When infant formula makers and community hospitals need lobbyists, the regulatory state has reached deep into every corner of American healthcare.
The Surprising Entries
The Knot Worldwide Inc. — an online wedding vendor marketplace — filed its first lobbying disclosure in Q1 2025. A wedding website now lobbies Congress. Let that sink in.
Cinema United, a trade association for movie theater owners, appeared for the first time in Q4 2025. The theater industry is fighting for survival against streaming, and apparently part of that fight now takes place on Capitol Hill.
Axiom Community of Recovery — a workforce development and addiction recovery organization — entered the lobbying rolls in Q4 2025. Even nonprofit addiction recovery programs now need K Street representation.
The Responsible Online Commerce Coalition, a business league for third-party online sellers, filed through Cuneo Gilbert & LaDuca. As the FTC and Congress take aim at Amazon marketplace practices, small sellers are banding together to be heard.
Cities and Transit Authorities
Municipal governments are increasingly entering the lobbying game. The City of New Orleans and the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority both filed for the first time in 2025 through Thorn Run Partners. The City of Hallandale Beach (Florida) did the same. When cities need lobbyists to get their fair share of federal funds, something has gone wrong with the intergovernmental system.
The Energy and Climate Scramble
The Inflation Reduction Act, tariffs on Chinese solar panels, and shifting energy policy have driven a wave of energy-sector first-timers:
- General Matter (CA) — energy company filing for the first time
- Illuminate USA (OH) — a solar panel manufacturer, likely navigating tariff exemptions
- Zero Emission Transportation Association (DC) — an EV advocacy group filing through Kelley Drye & Warren
- Faraday Future (CA) — the embattled EV manufacturer, filing for the first time in Q3 2025
When the government picks winners and losers in energy through tax credits, tariffs, and mandates, every energy company — from solar installers to EV startups — needs a Washington strategy.
The Defense Sector Never Stops
Cascade Company LLC, a Texas-based defense contractor, filed its first lobbying disclosure in Q4 2025 through Ikon Public Affairs. Defense has always been lobbying-heavy, but the entry of new, smaller contractors reflects an expanding defense budget and the scramble for procurement dollars.
What the Surge Tells Us
The 2025 first-time filer surge — 6,997 new organizations, the most since our tracking began — is a leading indicator of regulatory expansion. Organizations don't hire lobbyists for fun. They hire them because the government is doing something that affects their business, and they can't afford to ignore it.
The diversity of new filers is the most alarming signal. It's not just the usual suspects — defense contractors and pharmaceutical companies. It's wedding websites, community hospitals, infant formula makers, addiction recovery nonprofits, transit authorities, and movie theater chains. The regulatory state has metastasized to the point where every sector of the American economy feels the need for Washington representation.
Critics of lobbying often call for stricter disclosure rules and longer cooling-off periods. But disclosure and cooling-off periods don't address why a community hospital in Indiana or a wedding marketplace needs a lobbyist in the first place. The problem isn't that these organizations are lobbying. The problem is that the federal government's reach has grown so vast that they have no choice.
The Irony of DOGE
Here's the supreme irony: DOGE — the Department of Government Efficiency initiative aimed at cutting federal spending — has itself driven a wave of new lobbying. Organizations that never needed Washington representation are now filing disclosures because DOGE threatens their funding, their agency partners, or their regulatory certainty. The attempt to shrink government is, at least in the short term, expanding the lobbying industry.
We're tracking this dynamic in real time. Check our DOGE vs. The Lobbying Machine investigation for the full picture.
Track New Filers Yourself
OpenLobby updates first-time filer data as new disclosures are posted. Visit our client database and sort by newest to see who just started lobbying. Use the search to find specific organizations, or browse by industry and issue to understand what's driving them to Washington.
Because every new first-time filer is a data point in the same story: the federal government keeps growing, and the economy keeps being forced to respond.