The U.S. Chamber of Commerce — one of the most vocal opponents of the Obama administration and congressional Democrats — continues to shell out tens of millions of dollars for lobbying expenditures.

Between July and September, the Chamber and its subsidiaries spent $37.06 million on federal, state and grassroots lobbying, according to a Center for Responsive Politics analysis of third-quarter federal lobbying reports filed Wednesday.

The massive business association has now spent more than $81.3 million on lobbying this year, easily earning its spot as the No. 1 spender between January and September. (Many other organizations and companies report spending using narrower definitions of lobbying, detailing only federal-level activities, while the Chamber reports spending on federal, state and grassroots lobbying.)

The Chamber’s third-quarter investments were the largest made this calendar year by the group. Its spending during the past three months represented a 275 percent increase over what the group spent during the second quarter of 2010, the Center found. Reports covering all federal lobbying activities performed between July and September were filed with the House and Senate on Wednesday.

Between April and June, the Chamber reported spending a still-impressive $13.4 million on lobbying. During the first quarter, the Chamber spent nearly $31 million on lobbying.

The Chamber’s lobbying during the first three quarters also represents a 25 percent increase above what it spent on lobbying during the first three quarters of 2009, the Center found.

Between January and September last year, the Chamber spent more than $65.2 million on lobbying. During the fourth quarter of 2009, the Chamber matched that amount, and then some, investing $79.3 million on lobbying during the final months of 2009 as Democrats in Congress pushed financial and health care reform legislation forward. A similar fever pitch of fourth-quarter spending may not be in the cards this year, although Congress is expected to act on at least some pressing legislation during the “lame duck” session after the Nov. 2 election.

Other high-profile companies also maintained their K Street presences during the past three months.

For instance, beleaguered oil giant BP, whose political activities have been under the spotlight since the Deepwater Horizon oil spill began six months ago, spent $1.86 million on federal lobbying between July and September, the month the well was finally plugged completely.

BP’s lobbying investments from January through September now total $5.18 million. During the same period last year, BP reported spending $11.37 million on its lobbying activities — although earlier this year, accounting changes were instituted in how BP reports its dues to the oil industry trade association American Petroleum Institute, which have lowered its quarterly lobbying expenditures.

Not unsurprisingly, the company listed several oil spill-related bills among the issues it lobbied on during the third quarter. It also listed lobbying on “bills to provide liability protection for blending, producing, distributing and retailing motor fuel containing 15 percent ethanol” and the “the development and export of Caspian gas into European markets,” a foreign relations issue the company expressly supported.

Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs cut back its federal lobbying to just $780,000 during the third quarter — a drop of $800,000 from its second-quarter sum. Since January, the investment bank has spent $3.55 million on federal lobbying. Despite, the third-quarter draw down, this spending is actually an increase of 66 percent above what it spent during the first three quarters of 2009, when it spent $2.14 million on federal lobbying.

Additionally, during the past three months, Goldman Sachs reported adding a new active lobbyist to its ranks: Joe Walls, whose revolving door history includes separate stints as an aide to Vice President Dick Cheney, Rep. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) and Mitt Romney’s 2008 presidential campaign.

Information from newly filed lobbying reports will be integrated into OpenSecrets.org’s lobbying database in the coming weeks. OpenSecrets Blog will continue to report on findings and trends associated with these new lobbying data in the days ahead.

Center for Responsive Politics researcher Matthias Jaime contributed to this report.



For permission to reprint for commercial uses, such as textbooks, contact the Center: Feel free to distribute or cite this material, but please credit the Center for Responsive Politics.For permission to reprint for commercial uses, such as textbooks, contact the Center: [email protected]

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