Merck, the pharmaceutical giant, had the greatest drop among the top 25 lobbying entities. Power players spend less on lobbying

Most of the nation’s top federal lobbying clients experienced modest, if not dramatic declines in expenditures during the year’s second quarter, a POLITICO analysis of new disclosure documents indicates.

Spending by at least 19 of the 25 top lobbying entities dipped in the second quarter when compared with the first, with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, General Electric, ConocoPhillips, Comcast, Southern Co., FedEx, the National Association of Broadcasters, Edison Electric Institute, General Motors and Merck each experiencing percentage drops in the double digits.


Such statistics buck what’s been a long-standing trend toward lobbying expenditure increases, as President Barack Obama and a Democratic Congress most recently pushed numerous contentious bills, from health care reform to financial regulatory overhaul to energy and climate change policy.

Merck, the pharmaceutical giant, witnessed the greatest drop among the top 25, sliding from $3.55 million in expenditures from January through March to $1.12 million from April through June — a more than 68 percent decline.

Automaker GM ($3.58 million to $1.94 million), energy giant Southern Co. ($4.03 million to $2.12 million), United Technologies ($5.98 million to $3.92 million) and AT&T ($6.84 million to $4.85 million) also recorded notable quarter-to-quarter slides.

Most of these top entities, as calculated by the Center for Responsive Politics based on first quarter lobbying disclosure data, also witnessed declines when compared to their output during the second quarter of 2010.

The Chamber, the nation’s perennial leader in lobbying spending, disclosed slight declines in expenditures when compared to the year’s first quarter, but a slight increase from expenditures a year ago.

Continued economic woes will likely serve as an impetus for the Chamber’s sustained lobbying efforts during the year’s third quarter.

“With the economy showing signs of slowing, the Chamber continues to advocate for Washington to focus on policies that will drive economic growth and create jobs,” Chamber spokesman J.P. Fielder said. “A linchpin to job creation will be passing the pending trade agreements, which encompassed the bulk of our lobbying efforts throughout the past quarter.”

Lobbying figures frequently fluctuate from quarter to quarter, often driven by changes in the legislative agenda.

Among those top companies and organization that did experience quarter-to-quarter lobbying increases, the National Association of Realtors led all others, with its expenditures jumping to $7.12 million in the second quarter from $3 million during the first. Much of its efforts focused on Internet and broadband regulation, data privacy, flood insurance rates, energy programs, housing, financial reform and various taxation issues.

Lobbying expenditures by defense contractor Lockheed Martin and oil company ExxonMobil also increased by at least 25 percent from the first quarter to the second. Defense contractor General Dynamics, oil company Royal Dutch Shell, AARP and PhRMA reported effectively flat quarter-to-quarter lobbying expenditures.

This article first appeared on POLITICO Pro at 10:06 a.m. on July 21, 2011.