license: other
license_name: tensorust-sample-license
license_link: https://tensorust.com/datasets/lobbying-vs-awards/
pretty_name: Lobbying Return Ledger (free sample)
language:
- en
tags:
- tensorust
- sample
- federal-contractors
- government-data
- finance
size_categories:
- n<1K
configs:
- config_name: sample
data_files:
- split: train
path: sample.csv
- config_name: summary
data_files:
- split: train
path: summary_by_state.csv
Lobbying Return Ledger: free sample (Tensorust LLC)
6,426 lobbying clients with the federal award dollars each one received: 1,013 of them hold FY2025+ awards.
Headline: Lobbying spend and federal award dollars are published by two different systems that never meet, so the return on a lobbying dollar is never on anyone's page.
This repository is a free teaser, not the dataset. It holds 25 example rows and a summary table with no names in it. The full file has 6,426 rows and is sold by Tensorust LLC: https://tensorust.com/datasets/lobbying-vs-awards/.
Files here
| file | what it is |
|---|---|
sample.csv |
25 rows of the full file (the same sample shown on tensorust.com) |
summary_by_state.csv |
row counts and totals by state across the full file, no entity names (groups with fewer than 3 rows are folded into "Other") |
Summary by state (largest groups)
| State | rows | Federal obligations FY2025+ (USD) |
|---|---|---|
| DC | 1,264 | 3,251,718,593 |
| CA | 738 | 19,458,960,475 |
| VA | 471 | 17,812,925,387 |
| NY | 437 | 5,862,253,123 |
| TX | 423 | 11,133,060,732 |
| FL | 263 | 7,363,209,707 |
| (blank) | 247 | 369,258,352 |
| MA | 201 | 4,506,274,862 |
| IL | 200 | 8,977,409,432 |
| PA | 149 | 1,508,796,195 |
| NJ | 143 | 854,388,780 |
| MD | 124 | 17,920,800,139 |
| TOTAL | 6,426 | 176,052,983,640 |
Full table: summary_by_state.csv.
What the full file has
- 6,426 rows
- Key fields: ontology_id, client, uei, state, country, lobbying_reported, lobbying_in_house, lobbying_outside, lobbying_reports, lobbying_periods
- Parquet and CSV, a README with sources, method and limits, and the build script
- Free 25-row sample (no personal contact data)
Coverage: 2026 LD-2 reports in the pull (q3_2026_50k 374/374 pages; y2026_250k 40/120 pages). Weighted to clients with $50K+ in Q3 2026 or $250K+ reports in 2026. LDA reports posted through Nov 5, 2026; awards FY2025 through early FY2027.
Columns in the full file
| column | meaning |
|---|---|
ontology_id |
Tensorust ontology organization id (resolved legal name) |
client |
Client name as filed |
uei |
SAM UEI when the client is a federal recipient |
state |
Client state |
country |
Client country |
lobbying_reported |
Total lobbying reported on the 2026 LD-2 reports in this pull (USD) |
lobbying_in_house |
Self-filed expenses (USD) |
lobbying_outside |
Income reported by outside firms (USD) |
lobbying_reports |
LD-2 reports counted |
lobbying_periods |
Quarters covered |
n_outside_firms |
Outside lobbying firms reporting for the client |
outside_firms |
Names of those firms |
issue_codes |
Most frequent LDA general issue codes |
agencies_lobbied |
Executive agencies named in the activity blocks, most frequent first |
lobbied_congress |
True when House or Senate was lobbied |
has_federal_awards |
True when the client received FY2025+ federal obligations |
federal_obligated_fy25_plus |
Federal obligations FY2025 to date (USD, USAspending) |
contract_obligated |
Contract part (USD) |
grant_obligated |
Grant and assistance part (USD) |
n_contract_awards |
Contract awards |
n_grant_awards |
Grant awards |
top_awarding_agency |
Agency paying the client the most |
lobbied_top_awarding_agency |
True when that agency appears in the lobbied list |
award_dollars_per_lobbying_dollar |
federal_obligated_fy25_plus / lobbying_reported |
Get the full file
| tier | price | includes |
|---|---|---|
| Full ledger | $1,500 | Every client row as CSV and Parquet with the award join, agencies lobbied and firms hired, plus the method note. |
| Quarterly ledger | $6,000 a year | The full ledger rebuilt after each LD-2 quarter deadline (Jan, Apr, Jul, Oct) with the new awards, plus a changes file. |
| Newsroom or research license | $18,000 a year | Quarterly ledger for a whole organization, the raw LD-2 activity text per client, and custom cuts by issue code or agency on request. |
Email mattbusel@tensorust.com with the tier and a billing contact, and we will send a proper invoice (ACH or card). The file is delivered once the invoice is paid. Details and the live sample: https://tensorust.com/datasets/lobbying-vs-awards/. All datasets: https://tensorust.com/datasets/
Method and limits
Clients and registrants are resolved to one ontology organization by normalized legal name (an amendment replaces the original report; registrations carry no money). The RECEIVED links from each client to its USAspending award summary give FY2025+ obligations. Agencies lobbied are tallied from every activity block in the raw LD-2 JSON. The ratio divides award dollars by reported lobbying in the pull; it is a ratio of two public numbers, not a causal return.
Not a claim that lobbying caused any award: the ratio is descriptive. Not complete LDA coverage: smaller 2026 reports and all 2025 reports are only partly pulled (see coverage). Not lobbyist personal data: no individual lobbyist names or contacts are included. Name matching can miss a client filed under a very different name than its USAspending recipient record.
Sources
- Senate/House Lobbying Disclosure Act API, LD-2 quarterly reports, https://lda.gov/api/v1/filings/ (pulled Nov 5 2026)
- USAspending recipient obligations FY2025 to date, https://api.usaspending.gov
- Tensorust ontology entity resolution (Nov 6 2026 build)
License
The sample and summary here are free to view, analyze and cite with attribution to "Tensorust LLC, https://tensorust.com/datasets/lobbying-vs-awards/". The full dataset is licensed separately per tier. No resale or redistribution of Tensorust data without a written license.
Tensorust LLC, Tuckahoe NY. mattbusel@tensorust.com | https://tensorust.com