From Open Secrets:

(Embedded beneath the title with their code. Click through on the title to see the tables.)

As lobbying revenue grows at record pace, Trump-aligned firms reap the biggest rewards

By Hien An Ngo November 19, 2025 11:37 am

Lobbying firms with close ties to President Donald Trump are raking in staggering amounts of revenue, and K Street spending is growing at the fastest pace since the federal government instituted quarterly reporting requirements in 2008.

While changes in administration shift which lobbying firms attract the most clients, Trump’s second term has introduced outsized growth among businesses that normally lag far behind the top-earning firms.

This year’s lobbying expenditures are growing at the fastest pace since quarterly reporting began in 2008. The first three quarters of 2025 saw a 13.1 percent increase in lobbying spending as compared to 2024. Adjusted for inflation, the year-over-year growth for the first three quarters was 7.7 percent. window.addEventListener(“message”,function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[“datawrapper-height”]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(“iframe”);for(var t in a.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data[“datawrapper-height”][t]+”px”;r.style.height=d}}});

While third-quarter lobbying tends to be quieter as Congress takes its August recess, Q3 of 2025 saw an 11.8 percent increase in non-adjusted spending when compared to 2024, the largest increase since 2009.

In total, the first nine months of 2025 saw $3.8 billion in lobbying spending. During the same period in 2024, lobbying spending totaled $3.3 billion.

Record increases in spending have coincided with Trump’s sweeping changes to policies and government institutions.

Top lobbying firms

Trump’s second term has been marked by the explosive growth of lobbying firms that have close ties to the president. Leading the pack is Ballard Partners,

Ballard dethroned the previous top-earning lobbying firm, Brownstein, Hyatt, once year-to-date numbers were updated with Q3 earnings. Ballard has been paid $59.5 million for lobbying services in 2025, compared to the former lobbying king’s $54 million. Brownstein, Hyatt had earned the most revenue every year from 2021 to 2024.

In last year’s third quarter, Ballard Partners took in $4.7 million and ranked 16th. This year, it made over five times that, bringing in $25 million in just the third quarter.

The firm’s founder, Brian Ballard, was chairman of the Trump Victory PAC in 2016 and 2017. During President Joe Biden’s term, Ballard remained close with Trump while his lobbying firm lost nearly a dozen clients not even a year into the administration. In the first three quarters since Trump returned to office, the firm gained 135 clients, nearly doubling its roster.

A number of former Ballard Partners lobbyists are now serving in the White House as senior officials, including White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Attorney General Pam Bondi. window.addEventListener(“message”,function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[“datawrapper-height”]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(“iframe”);for(var t in a.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data[“datawrapper-height”][t]+”px”;r.style.height=d}}});

Ballard Partners isn’t the only firm profiting from the new administration. Among the top 20 earners of the third quarter, the firms that saw the most year-over-year growth in the first three quarters all have ties to Trump.

BGR Group, which reported $51.4 million in lobbying revenue for the first three quarters of 2025, employs former Trump campaign adviser David Urban and previously employed Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. The firm ended the third quarter with the second-largest revenue among all firms. Last year, it had the fifth-largest revenue in the third quarter.
Miller Strategies’ revenue in the first nine months increased fourfold between 2024 and 2025. The firm is headed by Jeff Miller, who served as finance chair on Trump’s second inaugural committee. The firm ranked 36th in last year’s third quarter in terms of revenue. This year, it finished fifth.
Headed by former Trump adviser Carlos Trujillo, Continental Strategy has multiplied its revenue by over 22 times in the first three quarters of 2025 in comparison to the same period in 2024. It reported $18.2 million in revenue in the first nine months of 2025, a staggering jump from the same period last year when it took in about $800,000.
A practically brand new firm, Checkmate Government Relations, which reported its first quarter of revenue at the end of 2024, has had a meteoric rise in Washington. The firm is led by Ches McDowell, a hunting buddy of Donald Trump Jr.
Mercury Public Affairs, where Wiles formerly served as co-chair, reported a total of $19.1 million in revenue in the first three quarters of 2025, over double what it earned in the same period last year.

Top issues

Businesses and foreign governments flocked to Trump-connected lobbying firms amid confusion and concern over which imports and countries would be affected by tariffs. As a result, the number of clients who hired lobbyists to address tariff policy more than tripled between the first three quarters of 2024 and 2025, reaching 342. window.addEventListener(“message”,function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[“datawrapper-height”]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(“iframe”);for(var t in a.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data[“datawrapper-height”][t]+”px”;r.style.height=d}}});

Lobbyists have said that the strategies to affect trade policy have changed since the first Trump administration. To have influence, lobbyists need to have close personal relationships with the president and those serving under him.. Brian Ballard attributed the growth of his firm to attracting clients concerned about tariffs.

Along with tariffs, trade lobbying has also seen an increase in clients, with the number of clients in the first nine months of 2025 increasing 40 percent compared to the same period last year, rising to 1,570. Trade was also the fifth most lobbied issue from Q1 to Q3 in 2025.

The issues with the most lobbyists in the first three quarters of 2025 were the federal budget and appropriations, health issues and taxes.

Top industries

The miscellaneous health industry, which includes health organizations that aren’t health professionals, health services and HMOs or pharmaceuticals, more than doubled its lobbying spending in the first three quarters of 2025 compared to the same period last year. The Trump administration’s cuts to Medicaid and a potential lapse in funding for the Affordable Care Act have spurred more lobbying activity. In the first nine months of 2025, the industry spent $13.8 million on lobbying. window.addEventListener(“message”,function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[“datawrapper-height”]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(“iframe”);for(var t in a.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data[“datawrapper-height”][t]+”px”;r.style.height=d}}});

The industry’s top spender was Kidney Care Partners, which spent $945,000. The groups the organization represents include dialysis providers and pharmaceutical companies. In 2025, they’ve hired lobbyists to consult on Medicaid and Medicare issues and other health issues.

Lobbying in public education policy has come primarily from “school choice” advocacy groups, followed by organizations focused on strengthening or reforming public schools. The industry spent $902,000 in the first nine months, a 97 percent increase compared to the same period last year.

Invest in Education Policy, a conservative organization that works to advance school choice, was the highest spender in public education policy. The group spent $500,000 to lobby for the Educational Choice for Children Act of 2025 and the One Big Beautiful Bill. The Educational Choice for Children Act was included in Trump’s OBBB package passed earlier this year. It will provide a tax credit to generate money for families’ educational expenses, including private school tuition.

The industries that spent the most on lobbying in the first nine months of this year are the pharmaceuticals & health products industry, the electronics manufacturing and equipment industry, and the securities and investments industry, which spent $341.3 million, $226.3 million and $136.4 million, respectively.

This article was originally published by OpenSecrets, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that tracks money in politics. View the original article.

Trump administration sues California over law banning masked federal agents

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/trump-administration-sues-california-law-banning-masked-federal-agents-rcna244679

California became the first state to ban most law enforcement officers, including federal immigration agents, from covering their faces while conducting official business.

Federal agents stand guard while blocking a road leading to an agricultural facility in Camarillo, Calif., where federal agents and immigration officers carried out an operation on July 10.Daniel Cole / Reuters file

Nov. 18, 2025, 2:52 PM EST / Source: The Associated Press

By The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — The Trump administration filed a lawsuit Monday over California’s new laws banning federal agents from wearing masks and requiring them to have identification while conducting operations in the state.

The federal government has argued the laws threaten the safety of officers who are facing “unprecedented” harassment, doxing, and violence and said it will not comply with them.

California became the first state to ban most law enforcement officers, including federal immigration agents, from covering their faces while conducting official business under a bill that was signed in September by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

The law prohibits neck gaiters, ski masks and other facial coverings for local and federal officers, including immigration enforcement agents, while they conduct official business. It makes exceptions for undercover agents, protective equipment like N95 respirators or tactical gear, and it does not apply to state police.

Newsom also signed legislation requiring law enforcement to wear clear identification showing their agency and badge number while on the job. The laws require federal law enforcement agencies to issue a mask policy by July 1, 2026, and a visible identification policy by Jan. 1, 2026.

“California’s anti-law enforcement policies discriminate against the federal government and are designed to create risk for our agents. These laws cannot stand,” U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a press release.

The lawsuit said there have been multiple incidents where Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were followed and their families threatened. It cites a case of three women in Los Angeles who are being accused of livestreaming while following an ICE agent home and posting the address on Instagram.

“Given the personal threats and violence that agents face, federal law enforcement agencies allow their officers to choose whether to wear masks to protect their identities and provide an extra layer of security,” the lawsuit said.

Newsom has called the practice of masked federal agents arresting people across the state “dystopian.”

Critics have raised concerns about the increased role of federal agents in local policing and often unidentified agents conducting immigration enforcement activities.

“If the Trump administration cared half as much about public safety as it does about pardoning cop-beaters, violating people’s rights, and detaining U.S. citizens and their kids, our communities would be much safer,” a spokesperson for Newsom’s office said in a statement.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation issued a memo in October to law enforcement agencies across the country advising officers to clearly identify themselves in the field. It cited several incidents where masked criminals posed as immigration officers robbed and kidnapped victims.

The federal government also said in its lawsuit that the laws violate the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution, which prohibits states from regulating the federal government. It said the law banning federal officers from wearing masks discriminates against the federal government because it exempts state police.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office said it was reviewing the complaint.

“It’s problematic when Californians can’t tell the difference between a law enforcement officer who is charged with protecting them and a criminal who is attempting to cause them harm,” Bonta’s office said in a statement. “The FBI itself has warned that the practice of ICE agents obscuring their identity has led to a rise in copycats committing crimes, threatening public safety and eroding trust in law enforcement.”

Two clips about horrific ICE actions from The Majority Report

You MUST Know This About Filming ICE

Trump’s Ice Terror Campaign Invades Charlotte

Just One

I do want to add a content alert; there is little to nothing horrible in Annie’s post, but there is a link to testimony that could be at the least disturbing. This is such an important story, and it really is on us to make sure this stuff stays out front all the time until there is justice.

Could This One Rape Survivor’s Story Break Through the Next-Phase Stonewalling?

Epstein Emails Reveal “Bubba” Bombshell About Trump & Republicans Pretend It’s NBD | The Daily Show

It’s Very Powerful-

Watch it, then share it, and CALL your congresspeople.

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My Kinda Town-

Immigration crackdown inspires uniquely Chicago pushback that’s now a model for other cities

By SOPHIA TAREEN and CHRISTINE FERNANDO Updated 10:14 AM CST, November 16, 2025

CHICAGO (AP) — Baltazar Enriquez starts most mornings with street patrols, leaving his home in Chicago’s Little Village on foot or by car to find immigration agents that have repeatedly targeted his largely Mexican neighborhood.

Wearing an orange whistle around his neck, the activist broadcasts his plans on Facebook.

“We don’t know if they’re going to come back. All we know is we’ve got to get ready,” he tells thousands of followers. “Give us any tips if you see any suspicious cars.”

Moments later, his phone buzzes.

As an unprecedented immigration crackdown enters a third month, a growing number of Chicago residents are fighting back against what they deem a racist and aggressive overreach of the federal government. The Democratic stronghold’s response has tapped established activists and everyday residents from wealthy suburbs to working class neighborhoods.

They say their efforts — community patrols, rapid responders, school escorts, vendor buyouts, honking horns and blowing whistles — are a uniquely Chicago response that other cities President Donald Trump has targeted for federal intervention want to model.

“The strategy here is to make us afraid. The response from Chicago is a bunch of obscenities and ‘no,’” said Anna Zolkowski Sobor, whose North Side neighborhood saw agents throw tear gas and tackle an elderly man. “We are all Chicagoans who deserve to be here. Leave us alone.”

Baltazar Enriquez, president of the Little Village Community Council, walks with a Chicago Public School’s student walkout in protest against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents around Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood, Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Talia Sprague)

The sound of resistance

Perhaps the clearest indicator of Chicago’s growing resistance is the sound of whistles.

Enriquez is credited with being among the first to introduce the concept. For months Little Village residents have used them to broadcast the persistent presence of immigration agents.

Furious blasts both warn and attract observers who record video or criticize agents. Arrests, often referred to as kidnappings because many agents cover their faces, draw increasingly agitated crowds. Immigration agents have responded aggressively.

Officers fatally shot one man during a traffic stop, while other agents use tear gas, rubber bullets and physical force. In early November, Chicago police were called to investigate shots fired at agents. No one was injured.

Activists say they discourage violence.

“We don’t have guns. All we have is a whistle,” Enriquez said. “That has become a method that has saved people from being kidnapped and unlawful arrest.”

By October, neighborhoods citywide were hosting so-called “Whistlemania” events to pack the brightly colored devices for distribution through businesses and free book hutches.

“They want that orange whistle,” said Gabe Gonzalez, an activist. “They want to nod to each other in the street and know they are part of this movement.”

Midwestern sensibilities and organizing roots

Even with its 2.7 million people, Chicago residents like to say the nation’s third-largest city operates as a collection of small towns with Midwest sensibilities.

People generally know their neighbors and offer help. Word spreads quickly.

When immigration agents began targeting food vendors, Rick Rosales, enlisted his bicycle advocacy group Cycling x Solidarity. He hosted rides to visit street vendors, buying out their inventory to lower their risk while supporting their business.

Irais Sosa, co-founder of the apparel store Sin Titulo, started a neighbor program with grocery runs and rideshare gift cards for families afraid of venturing out.

“That neighborhood feel and support is part of the core of Chicago,” she said.

Enriquez’s organization, Little Village Community Council, saw its volunteer walking group which escorts children to school, grow from 13 to 32 students.

Many also credit the grassroots nature of the resistance to Chicago’s long history of community and union organizing.

Trump’s “border czar” Tom Homan said Chicago area residents were so familiar with their rights that making arrests during a different operation this year was difficult.

So when hundreds of federal agents arrived in September, activists poured energy into an emergency hotline that dispatches response teams to gather intel, including names of those detained. Volunteers would also circulate videos online, warn of reoccurring license plates or follow agents’ cars while honking horns.

Protests have also cropped up quickly. Recently, high school students have launched walkouts.

Delilah Hernandez, 16, was among dozens from Farragut Career Academy who protested on a school day.She held a sign with the Constitution’s preamble as she walked in Little Village. She knows many people with detained relatives.

“There is so much going on,” she said. “You feel it.”

A difficult environment

More than 3,200 people suspected of violating immigration laws have been arrested during the so-called “ Operation Midway Blitz.” Dozens of U.S. citizens and protesters have been arrested with charges ranging from resisting arrest to conspiring to impede an officer.

The Department of Homeland Security defends the operation, alleging officers face hostile crowds as they pursue violent criminals.

Gregory Bovino, the Border Patrol commander who’s brought controversial tactics from operations in Los Angeles, called Chicago a “very non permissive environment.” He blamed sanctuary protections and elected leaders and defended agents’ actions, which are the subject of lawsuits.

But the operation’s intensity could subside soon.

Bovino told The Associated Press this month that U.S. Customs and Border Protection will target other cities. He didn’t elaborate, but Homeland Security officials confirmed Saturday that an immigration enforcement surge had begun in Charlotte, North Carolina.

DHS, which oversees CBP and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, has said operations won’t end in Chicago.

Interest nationwide

Alonso Zaragoza, with a neighborhood organization in the heavily immigrant Belmont Cragin, has printed hundreds of “No ICE” posters for businesses. Organizers in Oregon and Missouri have asked for advice.

“It’s become a model for other cities,” Zaragoza said. “We’re building leaders in our community who are teaching others.”

The turnout for virtual know-your-rights trainings offered by the pro-democracy group, States at the Core, doubled from 500 to 1,000 over a recent month, drawing participants from New Jersey and Tennessee.

“We train and we let go, and the people of Chicago are the ones who run with it,” said organizer Jill Garvey.

Awaiting the aftermath

Enriquez completes up to three patrol shifts daily. Beyond the physical exertion, the work takes a toll.

Federal agents visited his home and questioned family members. A U.S. citizen relative was handcuffed by agents. His car horn no longer works, which he attributes to overuse.

“This has been very traumatizing,” he said. “It is very scary because you will remember this for the rest of your life.”

CHRISTINE FERNANDO

Epstein Is Destroying MAGA

Teen Pleads For His Dad Detained By ICE

ICE tries to deport Native American Woman.

Please notice she had documentation on her and was known to the jail personnel. ICE doesn’t care about a person’s documentation nor did the jail people, they seem to be racists who want brown people out of the US at any costs. Hugs

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/ice-tries-to-deport-native-american-woman/ar-AA1Qrh8y