Just steps from the U.S. Capitol, the University of Florida is preparing to open a permanent presence in Washington, D.C., made possible by a $4.25 million real estate gift from one of the nation’s most politically connected lobbyists: Brian Ballard.

The property, to be known as Ballard House, will give the university a base where students and faculty can meet policymakers, brief federal agencies, and build relationships with government officials. The announcement last month came just days after a Ballard Partners fundraiser for Senate Republicans, where Majority Leader John Thune and his peers reportedly mingled with executives from companies such as tobacco giant Reynolds American, chemical manufacturer 3M, the American Health Care Association, and pesticide maker Bayer.  

For Ballard, a leading donor and fundraiser for President Donald J. Trump whose lobbying firm has vaulted to the top of K Street in recent years, connecting outside interests to Washington’s power establishment has become an international enterprise. The firm has reported record revenues during Trump’s second administration, fueled by lobbying for companies and industry groups whose products harm public health.

An analysis of federal lobbying disclosures by U.S. Right to Know found that Ballard Partners reported more than $38 million in estimated lobbying fees between January 2025 and September 2026 specifically from 79 health-harming companies and industry groups. Their interests include tobacco, pesticides, chemicals, alcohol, gambling, ultra-processed foods, and fossil fuels that contribute to chronic disease, cancer, and deaths worldwide. 

That amount represents about 20 percent of the roughly $186 million Ballard Partners reported in estimated federal lobbying income during that same period. The firm listed the White House as a lobbying contact for more than half of those clients. In dozens of quarterly filings, Ballard targeted only the White House. Federal Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA) reports do not establish whether officials met with the lobbyists, what was discussed, or whether the firm’s work influenced government decisions.

The findings come as the firm’s work and the broader influence of corporate lobbyists in Washington face heightened scrutiny, including within Trump’s own orbit after former White House health adviser Calley Means accused former Chief of Staff Susie Wiles of putting corporate interests ahead of Americans’ health. Democrats have announced plans to investigate lobbying and corporate influence. And new White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller issued a memo released Thursday saying his staff must receive prior approval from the Office of White House Counsel if they want to meet with a lobbyist.

Means singled out Ballard Partners, where Wiles previously worked, alleging that companies hired the politically connected lobbying firm to gain influence and access to the White House. Wiles left her post on November 6 amid a White House shake-up following Republican midterm losses. 

The White House pushed back on the allegations. “The Trump Administration has never allowed and will never allow outside groups to influence policy decisions,” White House spokeswoman Allison Schuster said. 

Millions of dollars in estimated lobbying fees from health-harming industries

The lobbying disclosures offer a broader picture of the firm’s corporate relationships, extending beyond Wiles and her former employment to a portfolio of clients with significant stakes in federal policies ranging from tobacco and pesticide regulation to chemical safety and alcohol. Ballard Partners also lobbies for individual corporations and trade associations, whose lobbying can advance the interests of multiple companies, even when individual manufacturers are not named as clients.

Three companies accounted for more than $2.3 million in estimated lobbying revenue for the firm during a period when the Trump administration considered policy decisions affecting their respective industries: RAI Services, a tobacco subsidiary of Reynolds American, Bayer US, and 3M. 

Consider:

• 3M, one of the world’s leading chemical companies, was listed as a Ballard Partners client in four federal lobbying disclosures covering the fourth quarter of 2025 through the third quarter of 2026, with Ballard reporting $590,000 in estimated lobbying income. The disclosures cited “environmental regulatory issues” and, by the second quarter of this year, included lobbying the EPA on issues including PFAS, or “forever chemicals.” The 2026 third quarter report identified an additional lobbying issue specifically involving Brian Ballard and firm partner Micah Ketchel: “Introduction to government officials.” Ketchel previously served as a U.S. Department of State senior advisor, a special assistant to the president, and senior advisor to the national security advisor under Trump.
• American Chemistry Council, a chemical industry trade association, was listed in two federal lobbying reports in 2025 and 2026, with Ballard reporting $220,000 in estimated lobbying income. The reports cited lobbying on cargo safety and security, and transportation safety and efficiency. Separately, the Council’s policy priorities include changes to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), including the EPA’s chemical review processes. TSCA gives the EPA authority to assess the safety of industrial chemicals and restrict those that pose unreasonable risks to health or the environment.
• Bayer U.S. LLC was listed in seven quarterly federal lobbying reports, with Ballard reporting $630,000 in estimated income. The firm reported lobbying on “crop protection tools”—an industry term for agricultural chemicals and pesticides.
• Business Roundtable, which represents chief executives of major US companies, was listed in seven quarterly reports, with Ballard reporting estimated payments totaling $400,000 on issues including corporate and international taxation, trade, and supply chains. Its members include executives from companies such as ExxonMobil, Pfizer, PepsiCo and Coca-Cola, 3M, Dow, Hershey, Kraft Heinz, Mars, Phillips 66, and Meta. 
• Chevron, a major fossil fuel corporation, appeared in six quarterly reports. Ballard reported $720,000 in estimated revenues for lobbying involving reauthorization of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The law lowered the federal corporate income tax rate from 35% to a flat 21%, among other business tax provisions.
• Fragrance Creators Association, a trade group for fragrance manufacturers and chemical suppliers, lobbies on federal and state rules governing chemical safety, personal care products, and air pollution. Ballard reported $420,000 in estimated lobbying income for advocacy related to EPA chemical reviews, trade, and tariff issues. 
• Companies under the Gunvor Group (now Centalion Group and including Nerobreeze Ld.), a global oil and energy commodities trading company, registered Ballard Partners as a lobbyist in the last quarter of 2025 for an estimated $3.1 million in lobbying income. The company also owns or invests in infrastructure including refineries and pipelines, which contribute to air pollution. Gunvor Group has a documented history of bribery cases involving payments to government officials to secure oil trading contracts. 
• RAI Services, a Reynolds American tobacco subsidiary, was listed as a Ballard Partners client in seven quarterly reports for an estimated lobbying income of more than $1.1 million over 21 months. Ballard reported advocating on RAI’s behalf for a “harm reduction” approach to tobacco by the FDA, an industry-backed alternative to stricter tobacco regulation. Most recently, the third-quarter 2026 lobbying issues were amended to also include “enforcement of illicit nicotine products and FDA regulatory reform.”
• Reyes Holdings, a distributor and bottler of alcoholic beverages and sugary drinks, including Coca-Cola, was listed in all seven quarterly reports since January 2025, with Ballard reporting $840,000 to lobby on trade and tariffs. 
• Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits, another major alcohol distributor, was also listed as a Ballard client in seven quarterly listings. Ballard reported an estimated $760,000—including $460,000 in the third quarter of 2026—to lobby the White House, Congress, and the Federal Trade Commission on “an executive order about antitrust.” In early October, Southern Glazer’s agreed to an FTC settlement imposing restrictions on its pricing practices. The company agreed the previous month to pay $12.5 million under a non-prosecution agreement to resolve a federal investigation into bribery of employees at alcohol retailers.
• TikTok Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of the social media platform, was listed on six reports before it terminated its engagement with Ballard Partners in April. Ballard reported an estimated $800,000 to lobby on internet technology and the regulation of content platforms. This came as the social media company faced mounting scrutiny over data privacy, national security, content moderation, and the effects of its algorithm-driven platform on young users. The European Commission this month accused TikTok of exposing young users to content that can worsen eating disorders and anxiety.
• U.S. Sugar, one of America’s largest sugar producers, was listed on seven lobbying disclosures. Ballard reported $840,000 in estimated income for lobbying involving Everglades restoration projects and business tax relief. The sugar industry’s broader interests have included protecting farmland from acquisition and maintaining water supplies for irrigation. They also include limiting its financial responsibility for pollution cleanup and protecting sugar’s place in beverages and ultra-processed foods linked to obesity, diabetes, cancer and other chronic diseases.

Other clients included Draslovka, a privately owned Czech chemical company that produces cyanide-based products, and SunCoke Energy, whose coke plants have faced federal and state environmental enforcement actions over Clean Air Act violations and excess emissions of hazardous air pollutants. 

Ballard lobbying reaches the highest levels of the Trump administration

Federal lobbying disclosures offer a window into the scope of Ballard’s corporate work, the policy issues clients sought to influence and the government offices the firm identified as lobbying targets. (Separate state disclosures identify additional clients and payments.) 

Not every engagement concerned public health. But they show that Ballard reported lobbying not only Congress and federal agencies, but also the White House Office, Executive Office of the President, and Vice President. The reported activity coincided with the administration’s consideration of public health rules across multiple industries—and its broader effort to dismantle federal regulations as a central priority.

Ballard’s corporate clients have billions of dollars riding on federal decisions in these areas, which also can affect the health and safety of consumers and communities. Federal agencies such as the FDA and EPA determine which tobacco products can be sold, which pesticides are approved, how toxic chemicals are assessed, and what limits apply to the quality of the air people breathe. 

Corporations have been very successful in keeping products on the market that are harming people’s health, says Tracey Woodruff, director of the Health and Toxics Policy Lab at Stanford University.

Laura Schmidt, a professor in the School of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, agrees. The government can’t hold companies accountable for public health harms and protect consumers when lobbying firms can access the highest levels of power and pull the levers to get what they want, she says. 

“The only solution is regulation, and if the system is set up to serve the companies’ interests, we’re going to stay in our current situation where six in 10 of us have a chronic disease,” Schmidt said. “That’s not normal.”

From 3M to Big Tobacco, Ballard targeted the White House for its clients

The White House ranked second among Ballard Partners’ lobbying targets in the first three quarters of this year, after the House and before the Senate, according to OpenSecrets. Ballard listed The Executive Office of the President as a lobbying contact for eight clients and the Vice President for five, according to an analysis of quarterly reports over 21 months.

The disclosures do not indicate whether those lobbying efforts involved direct contact with President Trump. Brian Ballard, however, has a long personal and political relationship with the president. 

“The president, as you’ve seen in his history, loves to talk one-on-one,” Ballard said in an appearance last year on CNN Brasil, referring to Trump. “And I would, if I were advising your president, like any other president or prime minister around the world, I would call directly.”

Federal lobbying disclosures show how often Ballard identified the White House and other senior executive branch offices as lobbying targets for its clients between January 2025 and September 2026:

• 3M: Ballard Partners listed the White House Office among the government entities it lobbied in all four of its quarterly reports. The Executive Office of the President appeared in three, while the EPA was listed twice.
• American Chemistry Council: Ballard listed the U.S. Vice President as its sole lobbying target in the fourth quarter of 2025.  
• Bayer: Ballard reported the White House as a target in all seven quarterly reports. It was the only lobbying target in the 2026 reports. The USDA appeared in only two 2025 reports.
• Business Roundtable: Ballard listed the White House as its sole contact in all four 2025 reports. The Executive Office of the President, and the vice president’s office, appeared in the first-quarter 2026 report, along with the State Department.
• Chevron: Ballard listed the White House as its sole target in all of its reports, with one exception. Chevron ended its engagement with Ballard in the second quarter of 2026. The State Department was listed with the White House in the first quarter this year.
• RAI Services: Ballard listed the White House, among other lobbying contacts, in its two most recent quarterly reports.
• Reyes Holding: Ballard listed the White House on six of seven quarterly reports—and as the sole contact in four. Among other companies, Reyes owns Martin Brower, a major foodservice distributor and leading supplier to McDonald’s.   
• Seminole Hard Rock Digital, an interactive gaming and sports betting company: Ballard listed only the White House in three of its seven reports. Casino owner Seminole Hard Rock Entertainment also listed the White House in its two most recent reports regarding “tribal policy issues.” The Department of the Interior (DOI), which plays a central role in federal policy affecting tribal nations, appeared as a contact only in 2025.
• Taurus Holdings, the firearms maker: Ballard listed the White House four times.
• TikTok: Ballard identified the White House as a lobbying target in five reports over six quarters.
• TotalEnergies, a French multinational oil, gas, and renewable energy company: Ballard listed the White House as its sole contact in six of seven quarterly disclosures over 21 months. Ballard reported nearly $1.3 million in estimated lobbying income for work on expanding liquefied natural gas refining opportunities in Africa and Europe and “creating jobs for American workers.”
• U.S. Sugar: Ballard listed the White House as a lobbying contact in three of its seven quarterly disclosures.

The concentration of reported lobbying targets at the White House is significant, according to Jeff Hauser, founder and executive director of the nonprofit Revolving Door Project. Ballard Partners’ longtime connection to the Trump inner circle is particularly valuable in an administration that is “both extremely centralized and extremely overreaching,” Hauser said, leaving cabinet departments with technical expertise less empowered than they would otherwise be.

“Normally, lobbyists would take care to go through proper channels and paper their requests of the executive branch at the lowest levels and then work their way up if they are frustrated with the results,” Hauser said. “Generally, they wouldn’t go over the heads of the top professional people first before going to the political people, but here they’re going over the heads of political people in the cabinet departments in order to reach into the White House itself.”

He added, “Ballard knows what it’s doing. And if they are cutting out all sorts of levels and saying that the only decision makers who matter are at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. or in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, they’re probably correct. And that’s disturbing. That means that there is no proper process. There are no eyes that matter on issues that belong to experts. This is just pure politics and money at work.”

Meredith McGehee, one of the nation’s foremost experts on Congress and ethics in politics, said the approach reflects a broader shift in how lobbyists seek to influence policy under Trump. Typically, they have taken a holistic view of how opinion changes, and how to move policy and identify key potential allies in Congress, she says.

“In this administration, why waste their time and resources when Congress has basically said, whatever the president wants, we’re basically going to march to his drummer?” McGehee said. “This is a grifting administration, and the corruption is real, and it starts from the top.” 

Former senior health official alleges Ballard is a conduit to the White House

Calley Means, who helped lead the Make America Healthy Again agenda, has also criticized Ballard Partners’ relationship with the Trump administration. Means recently pointed to former chief of staff Susie Wiles, who previously worked at Ballard Partners, alleging that the firm had become a powerful conduit to the White House. In an interview with CBS News, Means accused the firm of controlling the government’s policy process.

“The secret is out in DC: You have to pay Ballard to get something done, and they’ve generated more revenue than any other firm in American history,” Means said in a November 6 interview with Joe Rogan.

A spokesperson for Wiles called the accusations “outrageous, defamatory, and provably false.”

“Susie has dedicated her career to fighting for President Trump and the American people, and will not allow these lies to go unanswered,” the spokesperson told Axios.

In a November 8 statement posted on X, Ballard also denied the allegations. While he did not “ordinarily respond to commentary” about the firm, Brian Ballard said that he was making an exception because Means has made “specific claims about Ballard Partners that are false, and the record should be corrected.” 

Ballard Partners said its interactions with Wiles as Trump’s chief of staff “have been limited and have been the exception, not the rule.”

“Our effectiveness depends on working with the officials directly responsible for our clients’ issues, and those issues are almost always addressed at the federal agencies and in Congress,” the statement read. “For most of our clients, our work does not involve the White House.”

Justin Sayfie, a partner in the firm’s D.C. office, declined an interview request in an email: “We have no other comment other than the public registration documents that we have filed in compliance with federal lobbying disclosure laws.”

A lobbying powerhouse with ties to Trump  

Ballard Partners was established in 1988 by Brian Ballard and his father-in-law Jim Smith, a former Florida secretary of state, at the historic Lively House in Tallahassee, Fla. The firm opened its Washington, D.C., office in February 2017, shortly after Trump’s inauguration. 

“The secret is out in DC: You have to pay Ballard to get something done, and they’ve generated more revenue than any other firm in American history.”

Ballard has longstanding ties to Trump’s political operation. He chaired the Florida Finance Committee for Trump when he was the GOP presidential nominee in 2016. Ballard also served as finance vice chairman for the Republican National Committee (RNC) and was a member of the Presidential Transition Finance Committee.

In the 2024 election cycle, he raised more than $50 million for committees supporting the president’s campaign, according to The New York Times. He also donated $250,000 of his own money to the Trump 47 committee and $200,000 to the Republican National Committee in 2026. Ballard Partners also is one of three top lobbying firms representing the most corporations known to be White House ballroom donors, including Amazon, RAI Services, and NextEra Energy. 

The firm’s federal lobbying revenue in the first three quarters of this year outpaced that of the second-highest ranked firm by nearly $33 million. Its clients span a wide range of industries, ranging from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) Group to United HealthCare Services. 

The firm also represents other lobbying firms as well as companies in social media, digital advertising, and artificial intelligence, sectors facing growing federal scrutiny over consumer protection, data privacy, product safety and access to care.

Ballard has expanded its operations beyond Washington, including opening offices in Chicago, Boston, and Los Angeles, and establishing an international presence in the Middle East and Latin America, among other regions—even Antarctica. 

In July, as Washington exercised considerable financial influence over Venezuela’s oil sales and revenues, Ballard announced an office in Caracas, “servicing clients in both national capitals and connecting decision-makers in Washington with the emerging opportunities of a re-opening Venezuelan market.” Ballard Global Alliance also advertises government relations and public affairs services through partner firms in key markets, including Japan, the UK, South Korea, and the UAE.

Its bench of former government officials and political operatives gives it experience across the institutions that shape and enforce federal policy. Ballard Partners lobbyists worked directly for the Trump administration or on presidential transition teams, primarily through Republican affiliations, while some former Ballard employees have gone on to senior government positions. 

Susie Wiles, the recently ousted White House chief of staff, worked at Ballard Partners before becoming Trump’s campaign manager. Pam Bondi, the former attorney general, was also associated with the firm.

“Lobbyists really are primary when it comes to running this administration. I mean, they’re the heads of the administration itself,” said Craig Holman, a government affairs lobbyist for Public Citizen on Capitol Hill who focuses on government ethics and campaign finance reform. “Ballard is the number one thing.”

Other Ballard employees have held positions across the federal government, including in the White House, Congress, the Pentagon, State Department, and federal agencies. Daniel McFaul, who previously worked as a congressional legislative director and chief of staff, served on Trump’s 2016-17 presidential transition team. 

“In this capacity, Dan worked on the Appointments Team responsible for recruiting and vetting potential appointees to the incoming Administration, specifically for the Department of Defense, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Armed Services, and the Intelligence community,” according to the Ballard Partners website. 

Hunter Morgen, another partner, served as a special assistant to the president and senior adviser for policy and strategy in the first Trump administration. He also served as principal deputy to Peter Navarro and Stephen Miller, now the White House chief of staff, and held a position at the State Department. Morgen’s wife, Cora Mandy, is the EPA’s deputy associate administrator for Public Affairs.

Other former government officials at the firm include:

• Amaryllis Fox Kennedy, former deputy director of national intelligence and the daughter-in-law of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., joined Ballard Partners in July as co-chair of its emerging technology and AI practice group. (The firm’s clients in that sector include Anthropic. Ballard reported lobbying fees of $890,000 this year, with contacts between July 1 and August 30 including the new director of national intelligence, White House, and Executive Office of the President.)
• Jimmy Sapp, who held senior Pentagon positions, including principal deputy assistant secretary of war for legislative affairs and acting chief of staff to the deputy defense secretary, is a partner in Ballard’s DC office.
• Raj Shah, who served as deputy assistant to the president, deputy communications director, and deputy press secretary under Trump, joined Ballard in 2019 to lead its Media Group.

Tobacco: A push to reshape FDA oversight

One of the clearest examples of Ballard’s work for an industry with significant public health implications involves RAI Services, a subsidiary of Reynolds American, which is owned by British American Tobacco. Rich Haselwood, the former vice president of federal government relations at RAI, worked on the RAI account as a Ballard lobbyist. Haselwood also previously served as senior director of state government relations at Reynolds.

The FDA’s decisions directly affect the tobacco products available to consumers, including which cigarettes, e-cigarettes and other nicotine products can be marketed and sold. Tobacco products are associated with nicotine addiction, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and other serious illnesses. E-cigarettes can quickly lodge toxic metals deep into the lungs, where they may damage tissue.

The World Health Organization identifies tobacco use as a leading cause of preventable death, while the CDC estimates that cigarette smoking causes more than 480,000 deaths annually in the United States.

Decisions involving menthol and flavored tobacco are particularly important. Flavors can make tobacco products more appealing, especially to young people, and complicate efforts to quit smoking. Research suggests vaping increases the risk of cigarette smoking in young people, and makes them much more likely to use marijuana, alcohol, and experience respiratory problems, especially asthma.

RAI’s lobbying occurred as the Trump administration moved to abandon proposed tobacco regulations. In January 2025, the administration withdrew proposed FDA product standards that would have banned menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars, sending them back to the agency. 

The relationship between Reynolds, the Trump administration, and the FDA’s vaping policy came under scrutiny after a series of donations and meetings earlier this year. The timeline raised questions about industry access and policy decisions but does not by itself establish that the donations or lobbying caused the administration’s actions. 

Ballard Partners’ lobbying disclosures for RAI listed the White House in two of its three quarterly filings in 2026, along with Congress and federal agencies. RAI donated $5 million to MAGA Inc., a super PAC backed by Trump, on April 30. 

Two days later, on May 2, a Reynolds executive had lunch with Trump at his golf club in Jupiter, Fla. Ballard and Haselwood were among those present, along with two executives from Altria, another tobacco company, according to The New York Times. The group reportedly raised concerns about FDA restrictions on e-cigarettes.

According to the Times, Trump interrupted the lunch to call FDA Commissioner Marty Makary and other health officials to complain about the agency’s regulation of vaping products. Days later, the FDA issued new guidance that could allow major tobacco companies to sell certain flavored vapes without completing the agency’s usual scientific review process. It also authorized new electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS). 

Makary, who had opposed the policy, resigned. “Big tobacco exploited their connections to administration and HHS officials to put repeated pressure on me to approve fruit-flavored vapes that appeal to children—I wouldn’t do it,” he told CBS News.

A White House spokesman defended the administration’s policy shift, saying Trump had pushed to expand access to vapes to help Americans quit smoking. “The only guiding factor behind the Trump administration’s health policymaking is gold standard science,” Kush Desai said in a statement to The New York Times.

Ballard Partners “helped marshal a sophisticated and expensive influence campaign that culminated in the new vaping guidance,” the Times reported. The newspaper said it found no definitive evidence linking the guidance to the donations or lobbying. It described the episode as “a clear pivot in the federal government’s longtime approach to the tobacco industry.”

Ballard Partners has denied that its lobbyists advocated for the authorization of fruit-flavored vapes. 

“Our work with White House staff on this issue has been against illegal, unregulated vapes from China, some of which have been found laced with fentanyl, that are reaching American communities and American children,” the firm said in a recent statement posted on X.

In another post, Ballard Partners also disputed reports about the golf course meeting, saying: “The May 2 meeting, which was widely reported in the @nytimes, was a meeting with POTUS, not with Susie Wiles or White House staff.” 

Reynolds American did not respond to a request for comment.

Bayer’s campaign for pesticide deregulation

Pesticides can expose farmworkers, children and nearby communities to toxic chemicals through agricultural work, food, water, and the environment, research shows. Widespread consumer exposure can increase the burden of pesticide-related health risks, including cancer.

The U.S. subsidiary of Bayer, one of the world’s largest pesticide manufacturers, has been a client of Ballard Partners since December 2024. (Bayer CropScience is also a member of the American Chemistry Council, another Ballard client until earlier this year.) 

Bayer makes pesticides containing glyphosate, dicamba, and neonicotinoids. Glyphosate, the most widely used herbicide worldwide, is linked to cancer, liver and kidney disease, endocrine disruption, neurotoxicity and many other health concerns.

Key decisions made by the Trump administration during the lobbying period reviewed by U.S. Right to Know included:

The Make American Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission’s final strategy omitted proposed pesticide restrictions that had appeared in earlier recommendations. CropLife America, the pesticide industry’s leading trade group, whose members include Bayer, described the removal as its biggest “win” of 2025: The White House “opened their doors.”

A Supreme Court June 2026 ruling, backed by the Trump administration, limited the ability of people who say they were harmed by glyphosate to pursue legal claims that the product’s label should have carried a cancer warning. Glyphosate is the active ingredient in Bayer’s herbicide Roundup^®, originally manufactured by Monsanto, which Bayer owns.

Trump issued an executive order designating glyphosate-based herbicides and elemental phosphorus as critical to national defense. The order directed the government to use its powers under the Defense Production Act to support domestic production of the chemicals. 

The EPA, which approved new pesticides containing toxic, persistent PFAS, or “forever chemicals,” also restored approval for dicamba, which has been linked to cancer, hormone dysfunction, and hypothyroidism. In 2020, a federal appeals court overturned the EPA’s approval of three dicamba herbicides, ruling that the agency had “substantially understated” the risks. Under the second Trump administration, Bayer had direct input into the EPA’s approach to regulating dicamba, according to The Guardian.

The Guardian did not establish Ballard’s involvement in the dicamba process, and Ballard’s federal lobbying disclosures do not identify individual pesticides or specific regulatory proposals Bayer US has sought to influence. Those filings also do not establish that Ballard’s lobbying played a role in the administration’s separate decisions affecting the pesticide industry.

They do, however, show sustained lobbying on agricultural chemical policy and repeated efforts to reach the White House as the administration made a series of decisions affecting the pesticide industry. 

“There are no eyes that matter on issues that belong to experts. This is just pure politics and money at work.”

In his recent statements, Calley Means alleged that pesticide industry lobbying prevailed as the administration sought corporate support ahead of the midterm elections. That allegation has not been independently established by the lobbying disclosures reviewed by U.S. Right to Know. Ballard Partners denied any wrongdoing. 

“On glyphosate: No one at Ballard Partners lobbied or communicated with Susie Wiles or anyone in the West Wing, including her Deputy Chiefs of Staff, regarding the Administration’s executive order on glyphosate,” its statement read. Bayer did not respond to a request for comment.

Alcohol, chemicals and food policy: tangible consequences for public health

Federal policies affecting alcohol, chemicals and food production have consequences for public health, from the information Americans receive about chemicals allowed in drinking water to the marketing of alcohol and gambling, and the production of ultra-processed foods. 

During the period examined by U.S. Right to Know, Ballard Partners represented companies with significant interests in these areas, including alcohol distributors and producers, chemical manufacturer 3M, and sugar producer U.S. Sugar.

The lobbying disclosures do not establish that Ballard secured these policy changes or that its work caused them. The decisions nevertheless aligned in several instances with the business interests of companies Ballard represented. Among the most consequential examples:

The administration eliminated a federal program focused on alcohol-related harms. In April 2025, it shut down CDC’s Alcohol Program, which supported state-level research and prevention efforts. At least 11 states had relied on the program, which had a $6 million budget. Ballard represented alcohol-industry clients including Pernod Ricard USA, Reyes Holdings and Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits.

The administration weakened federal guidance on alcohol consumption. The 2025–30 dietary guidelines, released in January 2026, dropped longstanding daily drinking limits of no more than one drink a day for women and two for men, replacing them with a general recommendation to consume less alcohol. The change came despite established evidence linking alcohol consumption to serious conditions, including cardiovascular disease and cancers, including breast, colorectal, liver, and esophageal cancer. 

“The new guidance, or lack thereof, related to alcohol use leaves Americans, especially women who are more vulnerable to health consequences than men, at a significant disadvantage to understanding the relationship between alcohol use and health,” researchers wrote in response. 

The EPA proposed weakening some federal protections against PFAS in drinking water. In May 2026, the agency proposed rescinding drinking-water standards for PFHxS, PFNA, GenX chemicals and certain mixtures of PFAS. It also proposed extending the deadline for water utilities to comply with existing drinking-water limits for PFOA and PFOS until  2031. The proposals, which have not been finalized, would mean fewer protections against these chemicals in tap water and more time before some existing limits take effect. 

Ballard Partners client 3M, which invented PFAS, knew for decades that the chemicals are highly toxic and persistent. Last week, it announced it would commit nearly $7.35 billion over nine years to settle personal injury claims related to PFAS, without admitting wrongdoing. 3M did not respond to a request for comment.

“When you make policy without understanding the implications, people get hurt, people get sick, and people die.”

The administration increased federal support for domestic sugar producers. Ballard client U.S. Sugar has interests that overlap with federal sugar policy, which affects domestic producers through price supports, loans, and other forms of assistance. Under Trump, the 2025 tax law increased federal sugar loan rates for domestic producers for the first time in decades. 

The USDA also announced $150 million in assistance for sugar beet and sugar cane farmers. The federal loan program provides financing to sugar processors, supporting the domestic sugar industry, and affecting Americans’ dietary health. U.S. Sugar did not respond to a request for comment.

Corporate influence faces new scrutiny as House oversight shifts

The consequences of corporate lobbying extend beyond the policies companies seek to shape. They also raise questions about who has access to government, whose interests are heard and whether the public can hold officials and corporations accountable. Those questions are likely to receive greater scrutiny as Democrats prepare to take control of the House in January.

This week, House Committee on Natural Resources ranking member Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), who is expected to become the next chairman, put 27 companies, including Ballard’s current and former clients, and nine federal agencies on notice to preserve records ahead of potential committee investigations when he takes over the committee’s oversight responsibilities in January.

Huffman wrote to Ballard current and former clients Chevron, United Healthcare, United Airlines, and TikTok, among other companies. He also contacted nine agencies within the Interior, Agriculture and Commerce departments, reminding them of their legal obligations to preserve records ahead of next year’s oversight.

“To every agency official and corporate executive receiving these letters: save everything. The American people deserve to know what you did with their government and their money, and we intend to get them answers,” Huffman said in a statement.

It’s not just a question of whether lobbyists like Ballard Partners and health-harming industries are getting the inside track, says McGehee. It’s also a matter of whether public health advocates, consumer groups and other competing interests have an honest and meaningful opportunity to present their case, she says. 

“It doesn’t mean that you’re always going to get what you want, I’m not saying that. But in this administration, basically, people who disagree with many of the industries—the tech industry, the oil and gas industry, etc.—they’re not even really getting a fair chance to be heard, and the result is going to be bad policy,” she said. “Right now, they’re making a lot of policy in ignorance. When you make policy without understanding the implications, people get hurt, people get sick, and people die.”