How Much Does National Restaurant Association Spend on Lobbying?

At $11.3M in disclosed federal lobbying, National Restaurant Association ranks as a major spender — well above the typical filer. Outlays in this range generally reflect a sustained presence in Washington, with at least one full-time government affairs lead and a stable of outside lobbyists engaged on the organization's priority issues.

National Restaurant Association's disclosed lobbying covers 5 general issue areas — a moderate footprint. Filers in this range tend to engage on a coherent cluster of related topics rather than spreading effort across the federal agenda.

The Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act requires anyone who contacts covered federal officials on behalf of a paying client — and crosses time and dollar thresholds — to register and file quarterly. Filings are publicly available through the Senate Office of Public Records, which is the original source for every dollar figure on this page. The same filings feed downstream research at OpenSecrets, where you can cross-reference individual lobbyists, bills tracked, and related campaign contributions.

3 of 8 lobbyists reported by National Restaurant Association (38%) disclose prior federal government service. That share is common at established government affairs operations that explicitly hire from agency and committee staff.

Among the named bench, lobbyists with disclosed prior federal service include William R. Harris (Former Senior Counsel, Senate Finance Committee); Brian T. Huseman (Former Counsel, House Financial Services Committee); James C. Doherty (Former Deputy Director, OMB). The covered-position field on LDA cover sheets captures executive-branch and senior congressional roles held within the prior two years.

Within the Trade Association sector, National Restaurant Association ranks #0 of 113 tracked organizations by disclosed lobbying spend. The sector leader is US Chamber of Commerce at $387.8M; the sector average is $9.5M. National Restaurant Association's $11.3M sits 19% above the sector average.

National Restaurant Association's LobbySpend Influence Score of 59/100 (grade C) is the most common grade in the index — it covers organizations with established but moderate federal advocacy programs. The score combines disclosed total spend (40%), issue breadth (30%), and revolving-door connections (30%). A C-grade is typical of mid-size corporations and trade associations with steady quarterly filings on a focused issue set.

Across the 5-year window from 2020 to 2024, National Restaurant Association's annual disclosed lobbying spend has declined modestly — from $2.3M in 2020 to $2.1M in 2024, a change of -10%. Step-changes of this size often coincide with major bills moving through Congress, regulatory rulemakings affecting the organization's industry, or a leadership change in the relevant committee.

Every dollar on this page comes from quarterly filings submitted under the Lobbying Disclosure Act and published by the Senate Office of Public Records. We pull those filings via the lda.senate.gov public API, deduplicate amendments, and aggregate by registrant or client across the years shown. The "amount" for each filing is the larger of reported income (for lobbying firms) or reported expenses (for in-house programs), which is the standard convention used by both the Senate's own dashboards and outside researchers including OpenSecrets.

The LobbySpend Influence Score is a composite indicator: 40% disclosed total spend, 30% number of distinct general issue areas lobbied on, and 30% share of named lobbyists with prior federal government service. The score is descriptive — it summarizes what was disclosed — and should not be read as a measure of effectiveness, ethics, or political outcomes. Read the full methodology for the exact formulas, caveats, and known limitations of LDA disclosures.