The prescription for influencing drug pricing policy

              

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MAY 7, 2026

The pharmaceutical industry increased its lobbying expenditures by 15% in 2025, but the companies anchoring the president's new prescription drug pricing program saw their spending jump by 8 additional percentage points while the plan was coming together. Also this week: A breakdown of the top fundraisers among House candidates and our interview with Tennessee's top campaign finance official.  Drug companies involved in TrumpRx boosted lobbying by 23% ahead of program’s launch The 17 pharmaceutical companies anchoring TrumpRx, the White House’s new prescription drug-pricing program, poured more than $130 million into federal lobbying in 2025 – a nearly 23% surge that outpaced the broader industry as the plan was being shaped behind the scenes. Those companies accounted for more than a quarter of the record $457.3 million spent on lobbying last year across the pharmaceutical and health product industry. And while newly filed 2026 first-quarter reports show no slowdown – industry-wide spending topped $131 million, a 5.7% year-over-year increase – the most consequential lobbying push came in 2025, ahead of TrumpRx’s February launch. “All I can say is that they’re spending a ton of money,” Olivier Wouters, an associate professor at Brown University who has researched the industry’s lobbying efforts, told OpenSecrets. Among those participants in President Donald Trump’s flagship “most favored nation” drug-pricing initiative, the 2025 spending spree was nearly universal: 15 increased their year-over-year totals, and eight – including Regeneron, which didn’t join until April 23 – boosted spending by at least 25%, an escalation that coincided with the plan’s final negotiations. TrumpRx offers brand-name drug discounts indexed to lower international prices. In exchange for offering these most favored nation rates to cash-paying customers, the administration granted participating drugmakers multi-year exemptions from new import tariffs. Read More

The State of Disclosure A conversation with Tennessee’s executive director of ethics and campaign finance While the Federal Election Commission has responsibility for enforcing federal campaign finance laws, 50 different agencies handle those duties at the state level. This interview is part of a series – “The State of Disclosure: Campaign Finance Enforcement Across America” – examining how the officials responsible for transparency in each state handle those duties. Bill Young is executive director of the Tennessee Bureau of Ethics and Campaign Finance Commission, meaning he is charged with enforcing state campaign finance laws and educating candidates, public officials and the general public about compliance requirements. Amid a tough election season, Young spoke with David Meyers about Tennessee’s campaign finance and ethics system, his concerns and his commitment to maintaining transparency and public trust.  Read More

Chart of the week

AOC has big fundraising lead, with Speaker Johnson a distant second The latest campaign fundraising reports show Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D), the progressive from New York, with a commanding lead in the 2026 fundraising race. She tops all House candidates, having raised $27.5 million so far this cycle. The second and third spots are held by the top lawmakers in the chamber: Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.). Lawmakers from New York and Louisiana together hold four of the spots in the top 10. While Ocasio-Cortez and Johnson both ended the first quarter of 2026 with more than $10 million banked, Rep. Ro Khanna leads all House candidates in cash on hand with $16.1 million. Totals reflect campaign filings covering the period ending March 31.

What else we're reading A New Web of Secret Money Is Shaping Democratic Races Across the Country (Sludge) Last-minute proposal threatens Hawaiʻi bill to limit corporate spending in elections (Hawai'i Public Radio) Former congressman David Rivera convicted in case on secret Venezuela lobbying (PBS) Billionaire Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker explores something new in a 2028 run: Raising money (NBC News) OpenSecrets in the News See our media citations from outlets around the nation this week: ‘There should’ve been a reckoning’: How End Citizens United’s electoral spending faded (Politico) The group contends that, with outside spending in elections skyrocketing, there is less return for individual groups getting involved that way. Total independent expenditure spending in the most expensive Senate races roughly tripled between 2018 and 2024, according to data from OpenSecrets.  Expert: Tracing ‘dark money’ ad sources very difficult (WJHL) An expert with a transparency organization says anyone hoping to get a full picture of who’s behind “dark money” ads running in local political races is likely to end that quest somewhat unsatisfied. Brendan Glavin is Director of Insights with Open Secrets, a non-profit dedicated to helping Americans “use data on money in politics to create a more vibrant, representative and responsive democracy.” Tom Steyer tries to sell voters on his own personal change (Los Angeles Times) Steyer has poured at least $875 million into federal and state political committees since 2010, according to an analysis conducted for The Times by OpenSecrets, and federal and state campaign finance records. That total includes the nearly half a billion dollars he has spent on his two races. The Supreme Court broke democracy by saying the quiet part out loud (Vox) As the campaign finance tracking group OpenSecrets documents, spending on federal elections has been on a steep upward trajectory ever since: “During the 2008 election cycle, the last presidential campaign before the floodgates opened, outside spending totaled $574 million. Four years later, in 2012, that amount more than doubled — to nearly $1.3 billion. By 2020, outside spending reached $3.3 billion and came close to $4.5 billion in 2024.” Senate candidate running as 'Independent' continues to be bankrolled by left-wing donors (Fox News) Osborn also received funds from Democratic megadonor Wendy Schmidt as well. Schmidt, according to campaign finance tracking website OpenSecrets, has given nearly $10 million in support of Democrats but nothing to Republicans. See More

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