Direct lobbying in the United States

Direct lobbying in the United States are methods used by lobbyists to influence United States legislative bodies. Interest groups from many sectors spend billions of dollars on lobbying.

Three laws govern U.S. lobbying. These require that a lobbying entity must be registered, allow nonprofit organizations to lobby, require organizations to present quarterly reports about their lobbying, restricts gifts to members of Congress, and require earmarks to be disclosed in expenditure bills.

Many former federal employees – for example, members of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) – become lobbyists and vice versa, a practice known as the revolving door.