Penn spent $290,000 lobbying the federal government in the first quarter of 2026, a 43% decline from the previous quarter.
According to a recently filed disclosure, Penn lobbied the federal government on a range of issues related to higher education, medical research, and health care. The University’s most recent spending represents a substantial drop from the fourth quarter of 2025, when Penn’s expenses reached a single-quarter record high of $510,000.
A request for comment was left with a University spokesperson.
Penn’s lobbying spending has continued to rise over the course of the first year of 1968 Wharton graduate and President Donald Trump’s second administration. In the first quarter of 2025, Penn spent $250,000, which at the time was its highest single-quarter spending in 25 years.
This fiscal quarter, the University spent $180,000 to retain the services of two external lobbying firms — BGR Group and Mehlman Consulting.
Penn first contacted BGR Group — one of Washington’s largest lobbying firms — in May 2025 to advocate on its behalf with federal policymakers. Penn paid the firm $140,000 to “provide strategic counsel and advocate on issues related to higher education and research appropriations,” according to a separate filing.
Six BGR Group lobbyists represented Penn — including 1994 Penn graduate and Managing Director David Urban, who served as a senior advisor to Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. Earlier this year, Sean Cooksey, who formerly served as Vice President JD Vance’s chief legal and policy adviser, joined the firm.
Penn retained Mehlman Consulting — which it paid $40,000 — but terminated its contract with Cassidy & Associates.
The University’s lobbying priorities remained generally consistent with the previous quarter. Penn lobbyists continued to focus on issues such as international students and visas, student financial aid, physician payment, Medicaid funding, and Department of Defense research funding. In the first quarter of 2026, the University also lobbied the federal government on the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission.
Staff reporter Mishal George covers University finances and can be reached at george@thedp.com. At Penn, she studies journalism and political science. Follow her on X @mishalgeorgee.
