Source: Politics<\/p>\n
Some of Washington\u2019s biggest lobbying firms raked in unprecedented amounts of cash last quarter. But it\u2019s the upstart firms with ties to President Donald Trump or his administration that have been drowning in lobbying fees, lapping their more established rivals on K Street as Trump\u2019s second term continues to scramble the hierarchy of the influence industry<\/a>.<\/p>\n Ballard Partners led the charge with more than $25 million in lobbying revenues in the third quarter, shattering the firm\u2019s previous record of $20.7 million the previous quarter. Clients flocked to the firm that once counted White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and Attorney General Pam Bondi as employees.<\/p>\n Ballard\u2019s phenomenal growth \u2014 the firm is set to add 5,000 square feet of new office space in the coming weeks, despite previously having moved into larger offices in the last few years \u2014 is another indicator of a transformation of lobbying in Trump\u2019s second term. The biggest winners aren\u2019t the massive law and lobbying firms that have pulled together deep benches of bipartisan lobbyists with extensive policy expertise and ties to the Hill and party establishment.<\/p>\n Those carefully curated rosters, aimed at insulating firms from the whiplash of transitions in political power, are being supplanted in value<\/a> by the consolidation of federal authority within the West Wing \u2014 and the select group of firms that might be able to get a foot in the door.<\/p>\n \u201cThe industry is in an adjustment year as lobbying needs have changed under the Trump administration in a way not normal for a \u2018new\u2019 President,\u201d John Raffaelli, a longtime Democratic lobbyist and founder of the lobbying firm Capitol Counsel, wrote in an email.<\/p>\n Ballard is perhaps the biggest winner of all. The firm signed roughly three dozen new clients during the third quarter, including one of Brazil\u2019s top business lobbies, the Swiss watchmaker Breitling, the city of Miami and the Port of Long Beach. It collected six-figure payments from over 80 clients, according to a POLITICO analysis of disclosures and reported holding three of the most lucrative lobbying contracts on K Street last quarter.<\/p>\n The runner-up last quarter was a decades-old mainstay of the D.C. lobbying world, but one that touts its own ties to the White House.<\/p>\n BGR Group, which employs Trump adviser David Urban and previously employed Transportation Secretary (and acting NASA Chief) Sean Duffy, reported $19.2 million in lobbying revenues in Q3 \u2014 up from $17.7 million in Q2 and $11.4 million a year ago.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery one of our policy practice areas has got something big going on,\u201d said Loren Monroe, a principal at BGR. He pointed to the firm\u2019s leading health care practice, whose clients include marquee drug lobbies, health systems, pharmaceutical companies, pharmacies, patient groups and providers.<\/p>\n The firm also represents top targets of HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.\u2019s Make America Healthy Again movement, including pesticide companies and giant food conglomerates. It has signed up elite universities whose federal funding has been frozen, crypto firms looking for a light regulatory touch and defense companies seeking business.<\/p>\n BGR leapfrogged two of K Street\u2019s more recent leaders, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, which respectively took in $18.9 million and $16.3 million in lobbying revenue last quarter.<\/p>\n Another firm with close ties to the White House, Miller Strategies, jumped into the top five with $14.1 million last quarter, up from $2.9 million a year ago. Miller Strategies is led by Jeff Miller, a top GOP fundraiser who served as one of the finance chairs for Trump\u2019s second inauguration.<\/p>\n When it comes to Trump\u2019s impact on the lobbying industry, the rising tide has lifted most boats.<\/p>\n Brownstein\u2019s third quarter earnings were still a firm record, and while Akin\u2019s numbers were down slightly from the previous quarter, the firm had its best third quarter ever.<\/p>\n Across the top 20 firms by revenue, 14 shops saw their revenue rise by double digit percentages or more, according to the POLITICO analysis and numbers provided by the firms.<\/p>\n Of the top 20, only Forbes Tate Partners and Capitol Counsel saw their lobbying income decline compared to the same time a year ago \u2014 and those decreases were minuscule, coming in at 0.3 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively.<\/p>\n \u201cI think for a traditional bipartisan shop we have managed this well,\u201d said Raffaelli, whose firm reported a 2.3 percent increase in revenues compared to the second quarter.<\/p>\n Another Trump-linked firm that has capitalized is Continental Strategy, which was started in 2021 by former Trump administration official Carlos Trujillo. The firm\u2019s lobbyists include former Trump campaign aides and former top aides to Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Continental reported $8.3 million in lobbying fees in Q3, compared to nearly $400,000 during the same period last year.<\/p>\n A person familiar with the firm’s thinking said that Continental hasn\u2019t needed to do much outbound client prospecting to fuel its boom in business. New business has been driven more by referrals from existing clients, according to the person, who was granted anonymity to discuss business dynamics.<\/p>\n \u201cOur growth isn\u2019t driven by any specific policies or issues \u2014 it\u2019s clients seeking us out for our reputation and the talent we have assembled,\u201d Trujillo said in a statement.<\/p>\n Other firms that saw big increases are Checkmate Government Relations, which is led by Trump family friend Ches McDowell; Mercury Public Affairs, a bipartisan shop that\u2019s been in D.C. for over two decades, but which was Wiles\u2019 most recent K Street home before going into the administration; and Michael Best Strategies, which is led by Trump\u2019s first White House chief of staff Reince Priebus.<\/p>\n