The Information: Top Five Lobbying Firms Silicon Valley Loves to Hire

As politics and tech get increasingly intertwined, having a good guide in Washington helps quite a lot. ‘If you’re hiring someone because you’ve got an immediate problem, you’re too late.’

By Julia Black

In the second Donald Trump era, the separation between tech and politics appears vanishingly small. “Eight years ago, you’d never see a Tim Cook or Elon Musk in Mar-a-Lago. Now, you see them all the time,” said Brian Ballard, founder of Ballard Partners and one of the top lobbyists recommended to us by industry insiders.Federal lobbying spending hit a record high in 2024, with companies, nonprofits and other interest groups shelling out $4.4 billion to influence policymakers. Meta Platforms was the largest big tech spender, dropping more than $24 million last year as policy debates roiled over privacy, free speech and child safety issues. In the fluid political landscape of 2025, these spending trends are likely to continue as the rules governing the tech industry get rewritten.We asked Washington and Silicon Valley insiders to recommend the very best lobbying professionals for tech entrepreneurs looking to level up their presence in Washington. Just make sure to call before disaster strikes. Said Josh Ackil, one of the lobbyists on the list: “If you’re hiring someone because you’ve got an immediate problem, you’re too late.”

Brian Ballard

Founder, Ballard Partners

Clients: Blue Origin, Google, Palantir, Amazon, Scale AI

To say Ballard Partners is well positioned for the Trump administration is putting it lightly. Donald Trump’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles, and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi are both former lobbyists at the Florida-based firm, and its founder, Brian Ballard, is one of the president’s most active campaign bundlers. Oh, and he’s also a longtime Mar-a-Lago member.

Ballard’s firm is currently experiencing “three different boom areas,” Ballard said: cryptocurrency, critical minerals and data centers. One of its biggest tasks has been helping clients adapt to “the nomenclature of the Trump administration,” he said. Diversity, equity and inclusion commitments, pronouns, and zero-carbon-emission pledges may have won friends in Washington a year ago, but now Ballard is helping his clients scrub their public-facing materials of anything that might alienate Republican lawmakers. Otherwise, clients risk sending those politicians “a message that starts the conversation in an uncomfortable way,” he said.

Heather Podesta

Founder, Invariant

Clients: Hugging Face, Kraken, Anduril, Shopify, Salesforce

Invariant was founded as a Democrats-only firm in 2007, but it began hiring Republicans and lobbying on both sides of the aisle in 2014. The firm’s founder, Heather Podesta (she used to be married to John Podesta’s brother, Tony), is one of the most well-connected people in Washington, known for her contemporary art collection, which she loans out to institutions like the National Gallery of Art.

The firm takes pride in crafting a long-term vision for the arc of every company it works with. (SpaceX has been with Invariant for 14 years.) Still, Podesta plans to capitalize on Washington’s renewed interest in military readiness, Trump’s deregulatory agenda and the fast pace of change dominating the headlines. One mantra around the office this year, according to an Invariant representative, is: “Chaos creates opportunity.”

Josh Ackil

Co-founder, Franklin Square Group

Clients: Coinbase, Roblox, Reddit, PayPal, CrowdStrike

While many lobbying firms have a dedicated tech policy practice, Josh Ackil, co-founder of Franklin Square Group, said the firm is the only one that focuses “exclusively on tech and innovation.” Founded in 2008, it got its start as Apple’s first Washington consultant, helping the company introduce the iPhone to the world.

In the years since, Ackil worries his industry has become a little too dependent on hobnobbing and who-you-know politics: “That is not lobbying. And I think it’s bad for the country.” He insists that his firm differentiate itself by closely studying the complex technology produced by its clients, including quantum computing and autonomous vehicles.

For Silicon Valley entrepreneurs who’d rather stay heads down building their product, Ackil and his colleagues can help clients determine which political threats actually have teeth and which politicians are just grandstanding. “Somebody that can tell them what’s real and what’s not—that’s half the battle of lobbying,” said Ackil.

Reggie Babin

Senior counsel, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld

Clients: OpenAI, DoorDash, Salesforce, Adobe

The only law firm on this list, Akin also employs over 50 registered lobbyists. While just a handful is assigned to each client’s core lobbying team, “everyone is available to be pulled into an engagement as needed,” said Reggie Babin, a senior counsel with the firm’s lobbying and public policy practice.

This year, Akin is seeing a renewed focus on defense tech as procurement processes begin to loosen up for the first time in years. Babin and his bipartisan colleagues are also helping clients navigate rapidly changing trade policy and coming AI regulation. Much of their work today boils down to promoting “national security and strategic competition with China,” said Babin.

Jeff Miller

Founder and CEO, Miller Strategies

Clients: OpenAI, Oracle, Apple, Kalshi, Palantir

This spring, government relations heavy hitter Jeff Miller signed a bevy of new clients: Zoom, Palo Alto Networks, Tether, and perhaps the biggest get of all, Andreessen Horowitz.

Long known as a close confidante of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Miller has more recently leaned into his connections with the Trump family. Miller helped raise tens of millions of dollars for Trump’s campaign in 2024, and the results are beginning to show. After President Trump announced the Stargate Project, which promised $500 billion in AI infrastructure investment, the firm posted on all its social media accounts to congratulate the project’s three biggest stakeholders: Oracle, Softbank and OpenAI, which are all Miller Strategies clients.