GW paid the federal lobbyists it hired last spring $140,000 in the first half of 2025 for assistance with “higher education issues,” according to lobbying disclosure forms.
Officials initially hired the law firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman during the pro-Palestinian encampment in University Yard last spring, paying the lobbyists a total of $310,000 since May 2024. The continued payments to Pillsbury, which took place between Jan. 1 and June 30, came just before officials said they would review all procurement contracts following the University’s hiring freeze earlier this month due to “unsettling” financial challenges facing higher education.
Last year’s hiring of Pillsbury and five lobbyists, including two former U.S. representatives, marks the first time University officials retained lobbyists since 2009.
University spokesperson Kathleen Fackelmann said Pillsbury provides “valuable guidance” to the University on “various” government and regulatory matters.
“GW’s continued engagement of the firm reflects our level of activity as we navigate the current environment,” Fackelmann said.
Fackelmann declined to comment on what specific services Pillsbury is providing to the University, how long the University’s contract with the firm is, why the University’s spending with the firm has increased or if the University will continue working with the firm in the wake of budget cuts.
University President Ellen Granberg said in an interview with The Hatchet last September that GW hired the firm during after the House Oversight Committee called on D.C. officials to testify on why they denied requests to clear GW’s encampment. She said GW hired the firm to ensure officials didn’t create a “bigger issue” because the University doesn’t have connections to manage a “situation” between lawmakers and GW officials.
She said at the time that the University is still in touch with Pillsbury because they allow GW to have voice on Capitol Hill that they hadn’t had before but also added that the communication is selective because of the price tag associated with their work.
Officials paid Pillsbury $70,000 each in the first two quarters of 2025. They paid Pillsbury $90,000 in the second quarter, $30,000 in the third and $50,000 in the fourth quarter of 2024, a total of $170,000 last year.
Three of the five lobbyists hired by the University disclosed lobbying activity in 2024 on the Freedom To Invest in Tomorrow’s Workforce Act, which would expand the use of 529 college savings plans for postsecondary nondegree programs, like attending a trade school or earning independent certifications. The bill would allow the use of 529 accounts, which are effectively tax-exempt, for other educational opportunities outside of a college degree.
The bipartisan bill was originally introduced in 2023 and reintroduced in 2025 by Rep. Robert J. Wittman (R-VA) in the House of Representatives and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) in the Senate.
Officials announced the launch of GW RevU in November 2024, a set of online certificate and nondegree continuing education programs aimed at working professionals. Because these programs do not lead to a traditional degree, they could become eligible for tax-free 529 plan withdrawals under the legislation.
Pillsbury also disclosed lobbying payments from two other universities in the first half of 2025, Abilene Christian University, a small private university in Abilene, Texas, and Harris-Stowe State University, a small public historically Black university in St. Louis, Missouri.
Harris-Stowe and Abilene Christian — which have paid the firm $50,000 and $120,000, respectively, so far this year — both for lobbying classified as education, also made payments to the three lobbyists who reported activity on the Invest in Tomorrow’s Workforce Act.
Other universities like Northeastern University and the University of Pennsylvania also began retaining federal lobbyists around the same time as GW in 2024 and have continued paying firms into 2025.
GW’s spending on lobbying has outpaced most of its peer schools, with New York, Northeastern and Syracuse universities all spending $50,000 per quarter in 2025 and Wake Forest University spending $30,000 per quarter for education lobbying. Tufts University, which spent $40,000 in each of the first two quarters of 2025, specified that the payments were to advocate for the College Cost Reduction Act. Tufts was the only of GW’s peer schools to specify which bills its lobbying payments advocated for.
