Morocco has significantly ramped up its lobbying efforts in the United States, outspending Algeria and strategically diversifying its approach with multiple firms to influence US policy, particularly regarding Western Sahara. While Rabat's spending has surged to $3.49 million in 2025, Algeria's more modest efforts, totaling $660,000, highlight a stark contrast in their respective influence strategies. DR ‹ › According to data from the independent center OpenSecrets, a leading US reference for tracking political spending, Morocco outpaces Algeria in lobbying expenditures. The data shows that Rabat has significantly increased its budget for this activity, reaching $3.49 million in 2025, compared to $3.37 million in 2024 and just over $1.7 million in 2023. Despite this rise, spending remains well below the peak recorded in 2021, which exceeded $14 million. That surge in 2021 came amid Donald Trump's departure from the White House following his defeat by Joe Biden. At the time, Rabat sought to consolidate US recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara, announced on December 10, 2020. A restructured influence strategy since 2021 Since then, Morocco has overhauled its lobbying strategy, ending its contract with JPC Strategies, led by a close associate of Republican Senator Ted Cruz. Rabat subsequently diversified its approach by hiring four firms: Yorktown Solutions, Brownstein Hyatt, Holly Strategies, and Akin Gump. In 2022, spending in this area reached nearly $5.86 million. The Biden administration has maintained the decision taken under Donald Trump, despite repeated pressure from Senator James Inhofe, who passed away on July 9, 2024. A more limited Algerian effort This trajectory contrasts with Algeria's more modest lobbying efforts. While Morocco has pursued a structured influence strategy for several years, available data points to a more recent and limited mobilization by Algiers. In 2025, Algeria allocated $660,000 to lobbying, up from $240,000 in 2024, while no public spending was declared in 2023. In September 2024, Algeria, through its embassy in Washington, signed a contract with the BGR Group, known for its ties to the Republican Party and certain pro-Israel circles, to promote its interests among US policymakers. The agreement runs until September 9, 2026. Since the retirement of Senator James Inhofe in 2023, a long-standing advocate on this issue, no comparable pro-Polisario influence channel appears clearly established in Congress. Meanwhile, two bills currently under discussion in Congress seek to designate the Polisario as a terrorist organization, alongside groups such as Hezbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. On the institutional front, the bipartisan Congressional Morocco Caucus plays a key role in structuring parliamentary support for Rabat. It is co-chaired by Democratic Representative Brad Schneider and Republican Joe Wilson. By contrast, the Polisario no longer benefits from an active support group comparable to the now-defunct Western Sahara Caucus. Morocco also enjoys backing from the Congressional Abraham Accords Caucus, which brings together 55 lawmakers from both major US parties. It is worth noting that lobbying in the United States is a legal activity protected by the First Amendment, allowing interest groups to influence policymakers. However, declared lobbying budgets do not capture all channels of influence, including informal ones.
