lobbying
Bulletins

Before Bezos' launch, Amazon and Blue Origin went on a lobbying spree

Amazon set yet another record of nearly $5 million in the second quarter, while Blue Origin matched a prior high.

A Blue Origin rocket begins to take off.

Blue Origin and Amazon spent over $5 million on lobbying in the second quarter of 2021.

Image: Blue Origin

Amazon and Blue Origin together spent nearly $5.4 million on lobbying in the second quarter, according to disclosures they filed on the same day their founder Jeff Bezos flew to space.

The vast majority of that spending, $4.86 million, came from Amazon, which set yet another record with its efforts to influence federal laws and regulations in the three months that ended June 30. That figure has been driving higher each quarter since the beginning of 2020.

Blue Origin meanwhile spent $590,000, matching the record it set at the end of last year.

Amazon, which is known in Washington for the breadth of the topics it lobbies on, worked on issues as diverse as intellectual property and taxes to facial recognition, government procurement and national security, according to the filings, which were due to Congress on Tuesday. It also lobbied Congress, the Pentagon, several White House offices and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.

Blue Origin focused more on space, NASA and related issues.

Ben Brody

Ben Brody (@ BenBrodyDC) is a senior reporter at Protocol focusing on how Congress, courts and agencies affect the online world we live in. He formerly covered tech policy and lobbying (including antitrust, Section 230 and privacy) at Bloomberg News, where he previously reported on the influence industry, government ethics and the 2016 presidential election. Before that, Ben covered business news at CNNMoney and AdAge, and all manner of stories in and around New York. He still loves appearing on the New York news radio he grew up with.

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