Why It Matters

Salesforce.com Inc. reported $1,010,000 in first-quarter lobbying expenditures in an amended federal lobbying disclosure filed yesterday, but disclosed no specific issues its lobbyists worked on during the period.

The blank issues field is notable given the active policy environment around Salesforce's core business areas. The company has consistently lobbied on artificial intelligence regulation, data privacy, high-skilled immigration, and R&D tax treatment. All of those issues are in motion in Washington right now. The Trump administration released a sweeping National Policy Framework for Artificial Intelligence on March 20, and Congress is weighing legislative action on AI governance. Federal data privacy legislation remains absent, even as more than 20 states have enacted their own privacy laws. The absence of disclosed issues in this lobbying activity report makes it harder to track exactly where Salesforce's Washington attention is focused this quarter.

By the Numbers: Lobbying Disclosure Spending

This is one of at least two in-house first-quarter 2026 lobbying filings from Salesforce. A separate first-quarter 2026 report disclosed $1,050,000 and listed specific issues. The filing in question here is an amendment to that report.

Salesforce's in-house lobbying spend has shifted notably over recent quarters:

  • First quarter 2025: $980,000 (original report)
  • Second quarter 2025: $1,390,000
  • Third quarter 2025: $760,000
  • Fourth quarter 2025: $750,000
  • First quarter 2026: $1,010,000 (this amendment) and $1,050,000 (separate report)

The company also retains a roster of outside lobbying firms, including Crossroads Strategies LLC, Franklin Square Group LLC, Bridge Public Affairs LLC, Moran Global Strategies Inc., Invariant LLC, and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP. Each of those firms files its own separate congressional lobbying records on Salesforce's behalf, covering overlapping and complementary issue areas.

The in-house lobbying team on this amendment consists of three lobbyists: Lauren Watt, Hugh Gamble III, and Charles McCray III. Watt is a more recent addition to the in-house team, appearing in fourth quarter 2025 filings. Gamble and McCray have been the consistent core of Salesforce's in-house operation for several years.

Hugh Gamble III brings Republican Senate staff experience, having served as Legislative Director for Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Counsel for Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS), and Legal Counsel for Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS). Charles McCray III previously worked as a Press Assistant for Rep. David G. Reichert (R-WA). No prior congressional staff record was identified for Lauren Watt in the available data.

The Agenda

This particular amendment lists no specific issues lobbied. Because of that, the agenda for this specific filing cannot be confirmed from the congressional lobbying records alone.

However, the companion first quarter 2026 report filed the same day did disclose issues, including:

  • U.S. Artificial Intelligence issues, covering risk evaluation, accountability, workforce development, and trust
  • Digital trade and export controls
  • High-skilled immigration reform

Those topics are consistent with what Salesforce has lobbied on across prior quarters. The second quarter 2025 and third quarter 2025 in-house filings also named H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, specifically in connection with R&D expensing provisions, and H.R. 2683, the Remote Access Security Act, in connection with digital trade. Whether those remain active priorities in the current quarter is not confirmed by this amendment.

Broader Context

The policy backdrop for Salesforce's lobbying is active on several fronts.

On AI, the White House's March 2026 framework outlined legislative recommendations for a nationally uniform approach to AI regulation, signaling that Congress may take up AI-specific legislation. Salesforce has engaged in AI policy consistently since at least second quarter 2024, when its in-house filings began referencing specific AI bills including the Future of Artificial Intelligence Innovation Act and related legislation.

On privacy, the absence of a federal standard continues to be a pressure point for companies operating at scale. Invariant LLC, one of Salesforce's outside firms, has noted in its filings that it is monitoring for a potential reintroduction of the American Privacy Rights Act. More than 20 state privacy laws are now in effect, creating compliance complexity for companies like Salesforce that handle large volumes of customer data.

On tax, R&D expensing has appeared in nearly every Salesforce in-house filing since at least the first quarter of 2024. The treatment of domestic R&D costs under the tax code has been a persistent concern for the tech sector.

Congress has also taken notice of Salesforce in other contexts. A June 2024 House Oversight Committee hearing included testimony referencing discrimination charges filed against Salesforce over its DEI programs. Separately, a Senate Judiciary Committee letter from Senators Chuck Grassley and Dick Durbin scrutinized major tech companies' simultaneous use of H-1B visa petitions and mass layoffs, a dynamic that touches directly on Salesforce's lobbying around high-skilled immigration. Sen. Elizabeth Warren publicly cited Salesforce's reported 4,000-employee layoffs in a November 2025 post highlighting workforce reductions across major companies.

The Bottom Line

Salesforce remains an active and well-resourced presence in Washington, operating both an in-house lobbying team and a network of outside firms. This particular amendment is notable primarily for what it omits. With no specific issues disclosed, the filing tells us how much Salesforce spent on in-house lobbying in the first quarter, but not what its lobbyists were focused on. The companion report filed the same day fills in some of that gap, but the amendment itself adds little transparency to the public record.

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