Defense Lobbying
Lobbying activity reported under the Lobbying Disclosure Act on this issue: registrants, expenditures, and specific bills lobbied, drawn from the Senate Office of Public Records quarterly LD-2 filings.
Issue code: DEF · 440 organizations lobbying on this issue
What the Defense Lobbying Data Shows
Under Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act code DEF, 440 organizations reported federal lobbying activity on Defense across the 2023-2024 reporting period, with combined expenditures of $13.8M. That volume of filings places Defense among the issues where corporate, trade-association, and advocacy lobbying is actively shaping the legislative and regulatory agenda, with each registrant required to disclose specific bills, agencies contacted, and in-house lobbyists engaged.
COUNCIL FOR CITIZENS AGAINST GOVERNMENT WASTE leads all filers on this issue with $1.3M in tracked lobbying expenditures, and the top 10 reporting organizations — including COUNCIL FOR CITIZENS AGAINST GOVERNMENT WASTE, AMERICAN ISRAEL PUBLIC AFFAIRS COMMITTEE, AMERICAN FINANCIAL SERVICES ASSOCIATION — typically account for a disproportionate share of total outlays, a concentration pattern that repeats across most LDA issue codes. Each of these organizations files quarterly LD-2 disclosures naming the lobbyists deployed and the chambers of Congress or executive agencies contacted.
The 440 filers tracked here represent a structured picture of who is paying to be heard on Defense — useful context when evaluating hearings, committee markups, and rulemaking on related topics. Because LDA filings are a public-record trailing indicator, spending in the 2023-2024 window reflects priorities that will continue to ripple through the 118th and 119th Congresses before any policy outcomes register in the data.
Top Spenders
Who spends the most on Defense
Top organizations by reported lobbying spend on this issue code, from Senate LDA filings.
Lobbying spend on Defense · U.S. Senate Office of Public Records (LDA)
Source: U.S. Senate Office of Public Records — Lobbying Disclosure Act filings LD-2 quarterly lobbying disclosure filings (issue codes, registrants, expenditures) · 2024 Aggregated from quarterly LD-2 filings for issue code DEF; covers 440 registered organizations across the 2023-2024 reporting period.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much is spent lobbying on Defense?
A total of $13.8M has been spent lobbying on Defense by 440 organizations, according to Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA) filings for 2023-2024. The top spender is COUNCIL FOR CITIZENS AGAINST GOVERNMENT WASTE, with $1.3M in total lobbying expenditures.
Who are the biggest spenders on Defense lobbying?
The top organizations lobbying on Defense include COUNCIL FOR CITIZENS AGAINST GOVERNMENT WASTE, AMERICAN ISRAEL PUBLIC AFFAIRS COMMITTEE, AMERICAN FINANCIAL SERVICES ASSOCIATION. These organizations file lobbying disclosures with the Senate Office of Public Records, which are publicly available under the Lobbying Disclosure Act.
What is the Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA)?
The Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 requires lobbyists and lobbying firms to register and file quarterly reports with the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House. These filings disclose the issues lobbied on, the amount spent, and the government entities contacted. PlainInfluence uses these filings to track lobbying activity by issue area.
How many organizations lobby on Defense?
440 organizations have filed lobbying disclosures listing Defense as a lobbying issue during the 2023-2024 reporting period. Each organization may file multiple times per year as lobbying activities continue across quarters.
Where does lobbying issue data come from?
All lobbying data is sourced from the Senate Office of Public Records, which collects filings under the Lobbying Disclosure Act. Organizations must disclose their lobbying expenditures, the specific issues they lobby on (using standardized issue codes), and the government bodies they contact. Data shown covers 2023-2024 filings.
Learn More
Data: Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA) filings, 2023-2024. Verify filings at lda.senate.gov.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.