Federal Lobbying Expenditures by Pharma

• Annual average (1999–2018): The pharmaceutical and health product industry spent approximately $233 million per year lobbying the federal government, totaling $4.7 billion over that period.

• Recent higher totals:

  • In 2023, the Pharmaceuticals/Health Products industry led all sectors with $382.6 million in federal lobbying — more than any other industry 

  • According to OpenSecrets via Reuters, companies spent over $4.44 billion lobbying Congress and federal agencies in 2024, with about 10% of that (≈ $444 million) coming from the pharmaceutical and health products sector 

• Trade groups vs. companies: The main trade group, PhRMA, along with individual companies like Pfizer, Amgen, Lilly, Merck, and others, contribute significantly to that total 

Political Contributions to Politicians

1. Federal Candidates

• 1999–2018 totals: The industry gave about $414 million to presidential and congressional campaigns, course party committees, and outside groups 

• 2023–2024 cycle (PAC contributions): Among 111 pharma PACs:

  • Total ≈ $12 million, split $5.2 million to Democrats and $6.6 million to Republicans 

2. Top Individual Recipients in 2023–2024

From OpenSecrets data via Deseret News:

• Democrats:

  • Bob Casey (PA): $520,776

  • Jon Tester (MT): $401,885

  • Sherrod Brown (OH): $372,314

  • Jacky Rosen (NV): $266,422

  • Tim Kaine (VA): $200,824

  • Tammy Baldwin (WI): $181,965

  • Gary Peters (MI): $130,265 

• Republicans:

  • Marsha Blackburn (TN): $316,656

  • Bill Cassidy (LA): $290,375

  • John Barrasso (WY): $204,761

  • Thom Tillis (NC): $131,955

  • Ted Cruz (TX): $101,621 

Summary Table

Politicians Receiving the Most

• 2023–2024 cycle:

  • Democrats: Bob Casey, Jon Tester, Sherrod Brown

  • Republicans: Marsha Blackburn, Bill Cassidy, John Barrasso, Thom Tillis, Ted Cruz 

• Earlier career totals (1990–2024), as reported by Reddit quoting OpenSecrets:

  • Kamala Harris: $11.34 million

  • Joe Biden: $9.13 million

  • Barack Obama: $6.04 million

  • Hillary Clinton: $4.62 million

  • Orrin Hatch (R-UT): $2.88 million

  • Mitt Romney: $3.38 million

  • Bob Casey, Anna Eshoo, Kevin McCarthy, Mitch McConnell, Bernie Sanders, among others with $1.5–2.2 million 

Quick summary (headline findings)

• Big picture: The pharmaceutical / health-products sector spends hundreds of millions on federal lobbying and tens of millions via PACs each cycle — and that influence spills into the states through direct donations to governors/state legislators, lobbying at state capitols, funding of ballot-measure/advocacy campaigns, and legal action to block state laws. 

• Where the money flows in states: pharma directs more contributions to elected officials in states with large healthcare markets, big insurer/PBM activity, or a large drug-company footprint (examples: California, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Texas, Florida). Local chapters of trade groups and company lobbyists actively spend on state lobbying. (See FollowTheMoney / STAT state analyses.) 

• Tactics at state level: donations to state candidates, lobbying on bills (price-setting, transparency, rebates, PBM reform), funding of allied nonprofits/“community” groups that run advocacy campaigns, and lawsuits when state laws threaten industry interests (example: West Virginia 340B law).

State-level contributions — patterns & examples

1) How researchers measure it

• FollowTheMoney.org is the best single source for comprehensive, searchable 50-state data on contributions to state candidates, ballot committees, and independent expenditures. Use it to build a state-by-state table. 

• STAT (and local reporters) have previously compiled cross-state rollups showing pharma’s donations to governors/legislators and influence over state drug-pricing debates. Their 2020 feature is a good methodology example. 

2) Concrete patterns by state (representative examples)

• California

  • Heavy activity: major companies (biotech & big pharmas) and trade groups target both federal members from CA and state policymakers. Federal recipients from CA (e.g., Scott Peters, Adam Schiff, Katie Porter) appear on OpenSecrets’ top-recipient lists for the 2023–24 cycle. State-level spending shows up via corporate/industry PACs and local lobbying registrations. 

• New Jersey / Massachusetts

  • Headquarters and R&D centers for many drugmakers and biotechs => more state lobbying and donations to state officials and to local ballot/advocacy efforts (these states also see heavy corporate lobbying on tax, incentives, and workforce issues). OpenSecrets shows large federal totals for officials from these states. 

• Pennsylvania

  • Example at the federal level: Sen. Bob Casey (PA) is among the biggest recipients from the industry in 2023–24. At the state level, pharma gives to both parties and to committees overseeing health/insurance. 

• Texas & Florida

  • Large populations + major insurance/PBM players mean pharma and PBMs both spend heavily on lobbying and contributions at state level; you’ll also see more independent spending aimed at state ballot measures and legislative races. OpenSecrets and FollowTheMoney show strong activity tied to representatives from these states. 

Note: OpenSecrets focuses on federal data (federal candidates and registered federal lobbying). For detailed state-office numbers you must use state disclosure portals or FollowTheMoney (state filings vary by state).

State lobbying (not just campaign checks)

• Trade groups (PhRMA) and company lobbying offices actively lobby state legislatures over price controls, transparency laws, PBM regulation, and procurement rules. PhRMA reported multi-million dollar federal lobbying ($27–31M in recent years) and also mobilizes at state capitols. 

• Legal action is also a tool: industry has sued or sought injunctions against state laws (example: lawsuit activity around West Virginia’s 340B/contract pharmacy law). That’s a form of influence beyond checks and lobby meetings. 

Who in state government tends to get industry money?

• Incumbents on health/insurance committees, budget chairs, and governors running statewide campaigns are the biggest state-level targets — same logic as at the federal level. Where a state is considering drug-pricing/price-transparency bills, expect a spike in pro-industry donations and lobbying. STAT and state investigative pieces document this pattern repeatedly. 

Examples of corporate & PAC activity (useful names & numbers)

• PhRMA (national trade group): massive federal lobbying and state mobilization; reported ~$31.7M lobbying in 2024 (federal filings) and continued state engagement. 

• Company PACs (examples reported in 2023–24 reporting): J&J, Pfizer, Eli Lilly, AbbVie, Amgen, Novartis, Merck — these PACs and employee contributions appear in OpenSecrets / PAC snapshots and give both federally and into state political channels via state-level entities. (See OpenSecrets PAC totals for 2023–24.) 

How to report or investigate this further (practical next steps I can run for you)

I can produce any of the following right now if you want (I’ve already pulled the federal & trade-group sources above):

1. State-by-state table (50 states) showing: total pharma industry contributions (most recent cycle available), top state recipients (governors/legislators), and major lobbying firms/clients registered in the state — using FollowTheMoney + select state filings. (This is the most work but most useful.) 

2. Deep dive for a handful of states (pick 5–8): show exact dollar totals to top recipients, examples of recent state bills where pharma lobbied, and any lawsuits by pharma against state laws (e.g., WV 340B). 

3. Spreadsheet of top company PAC donors and which states they target (for example: J&J, Pfizer, Lilly, AbbVie → which states and candidates got the most). Data source: OpenSecrets + company PAC filings.