The biggest spender, JPMorgan, spent $1.5 million, up from $1.3 million a year ago. Goldman spent $1.15 million, up from $670,000 a year earlier. Goldman's 72% increase in lobbying spending made it the fourth-biggest gainer in the first quarter, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

    In a speech extolling the virtues of a financial overhaul Thursday, President Obama called the lobbyists "a withering force" as he called on Wall Street to support reforms.

    The banks aren't the only big spenders. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce spent nearly $31 million lobbying in the first quarter, according to federal filings compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics. The biggest spender among public companies was General Electric (GE, Fortune 500), with $7 million.

    The Chamber of Commerce also has sponsored a $3 million ad campaign targeting financial reform proposals, drawing the ire of Deputy Treasury Secretary Neal Wolin.

    "That campaign is not designed to improve the House and Senate bills," Wolin said last month. "It is designed to defeat them. It is designed to delay reform until the memory of the crisis fades and the political will for change dies out."