Why It Matters

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) filed an amendment to its fourth-quarter 2025 lobbying disclosure on Sept. 25, covering activity from October through December 2025. The filing lists lobbying on issues including Iran sanctions legislation, State Department appropriations, and defense authorization.

The disclosure covers AIPAC's lobbying on the Enhanced Iran Sanctions Act of 2025 (H.R.1422/S.556), which would require sanctions on certain foreign persons involved in Iran's petroleum sector. That effort unfolded against a backdrop of a U.S. "maximum pressure" campaign on Iran launched in February 2025 and nuclear negotiations that broke down in June 2025, resulting in what Trump has called the twelve-day war.

Roughly seven months later, the United States and Israel launched another round of military strikes against Iran on Feb. 28, followed by a brief ceasefire in April that later broke down. AIPAC also lobbied on H.R.4779, the National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2026, and defense authorization legislation, covering issues including foreign security assistance and U.S.-Israel defense cooperation.

By the Numbers

The amendment supersedes the original fourth-quarter 2025 report and discloses $973,910 in lobbying expenditures, with an in-house 10-person team conducting the lobbying. Other recent Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA) filings include a third-quarter 2025 report of $940,000, a first-quarter report of $844,410, and a second-quarter report of $810,990.

Oren Adaki, AIPAC's Vice President of Policy and Government Affairs, previously served on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Celia Schacht, also a Vice President of Policy and Government Affairs, previously served on the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee. Jeff Colman and Josh Nason were active in the third and fourth quarters of 2025 but did not appear in the first-quarter filing; the core team otherwise remained stable.

The Agenda

The House Appropriations Committee reported H.R.4779 on July 25, 2025, but the House did not vote on it. The bill proposed fiscal 2026 funding for the State Department and related national security and foreign assistance programs. U.S.-Israel defense technology cooperation subsequently became part of the fiscal 2027 defense authorization debate. Section 219 of the House defense authorization legislation would direct the defense secretary to designate the Pentagon to coordinate the United States-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative. The provision has faced criticism among some Democrats who have begun to express increased scrutiny regarding U.S. military assistance to Israel.

The Bottom Line

The amendment maintains the same $973,910 expenditure and 10-person in-house lobbying team as the original fourth-quarter 2025 report it replaces. Issues AIPAC lobbied on during this period carried into subsequent quarters, with the second-quarter filing adding new items, including the Protect Economic and Academic Freedom Act of 2025 (H.R.4795) and fiscal 2027 State Department appropriations legislation.

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