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Presented by General Motors: Delivered daily, Influence gives you a comprehensive rundown and analysis of all lobby hires and news on K Street. | | | | | |  | | By Caitlin Oprysko | | | With Daniel Lippman CHAMBER MANDATES VACCINES FOR STAFF, VISITORS: As coronavirus cases surge around the country, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce , one of Washington’s largest trade groups, moved Monday to require anyone who enters its headquarters across from the White House — staff or guest — to show proof of vaccination. Once the FDA fully approves Covid vaccines, a decision expected sometime this fall, the shots will become mandatory for all Chamber employees, a spokesperson said, though a recent internal survey showed that over 90 percent of the group’s employees have already been inoculated. Still, the spike in new Covid cases has delayed the trade group’s staff from returning to its H Street headquarters three times a week, which they were set to do in early September. — The Chamber is not the first trade group downtown to publicly announce a vaccine requirement. Last month, the National Association of Manufacturers announced that vaccinations would be a condition of employment there as of mid-September. NAM’s president and chief executive, Jay Timmons , whose father died of Covid in December, said at the time that 98 percent of the association’s staff had been vaccinated, adding that the shots “were made for us, by people like us — manufacturers in the United States.” The Business Roundtable is also requiring vaccines. — Other major trade groups, from the Roundtable to the National Association of Broadcasters , are still reviewing their return-to-office plans, with several choosing not to require their staff to be vaccinated right now. Those choosing not to mandate vaccines among staff include the International Franchise Association and the National Retail Federation, who told PI they’ve hit the brakes on plans to return to the office slated for the fall. But Matt Haller , IFA’s president and CEO, said in an email that the association is moving forward with two in-person events scheduled for September, as well as in-person meetings on the Hill for priority issues. “At the end of the day, the right mix of compliance with masks and vaccines allows us to satisfy” IFA members’ “desire to convene and advocate, while remaining safe in the current Covid climate,” Haller said. — The U.S. Travel Association , which has raised the alarm about the slow return of business travel, is also forging ahead with in-person gatherings in September and October, its top lobbyist, Tori Barnes, said in a statement. As for the organization’s return to the office, Barnes said employees will be encouraged to adopt a hybrid model beginning next month, but that the group is planning a flexible approach. Good afternoon and welcome to PI . Is your trade group or firm mandating vaccines or pausing its return to the office? Let me know, and send lobbying tips, gossip and musings: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on Twitter: @caitlinoprysko. API SUES OVER PAUSE ON LEASE SALES: The American Petroleum Institute , one of the oil industry’s most powerful trade groups, along with a dozen smaller and regional trade groups, sued the Biden administration on Monday over the Interior Department’s freeze earlier this year on auctions to drill on federal lands and in federal waters. Hours later the department said it would resume those sales, POLITICO’s Ben Lefebvre writes, even as the administration continues to appeal an earlier court ruling that the pause violated federal law. — Per Ben, “the lawsuit alleged that the pause [President Joe] Biden instituted via executive order in January violated the Administrative Procedure Act by not holding lease sales as laid out in the Mineral Leasing Act. ‘The uniform and systematic cancellation of all federal oil and gas lease sales since January 27, 2021, across multiple DOI agencies and their various regional or state offices, confirms that this is not a mere coincidence,’ the groups state in their complaint filed with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana. ‘Rather, contrary to their various statutory obligations and duties, Defendants have imposed a moratorium — express or de facto — on all new oil and gas leasing on federal lands and in federal waters in response to the President’s directive.’ Biden's executive order said the pause was necessary while Interior compiled a report on how the leasing process could be improved.” | | A message from General Motors: Driving the future of America: From designing the revolutionary new Ultium Platform to the first electric vehicles it will power, General Motors is investing billions not just in EVs and AVs, but in American manufacturing itself. | | | AMERICAN PUBLISHERS ASK BIDEN TO EVACUATE THEIR STAFFERS: The publishers of three of the country’s most prestigious newspapers on Monday urged Biden to evacuate their journalists from Kabul amid the collapse of the Afghan government at the hands of the Taliban. — “For the past twenty years, brave Afghan colleagues have worked tirelessly to help The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal share news and information from the region with the global public. Now, those colleagues and their families are trapped in Kabul, their lives in peril,” the Post’s publisher and CEO Fred Ryan; the Journal’s publisher Almar Latour; and the Times’ chairman and publisher A.G. Sulzberger wrote to the president. — The paper bosses appealed to Biden “as employers … for support for our colleagues and as journalists … for an unequivocal signal that the government will stand behind the free press.” They requested the government provide protected access to an airport controlled by the U.S., as well as for “safe passage through a protected access gate to the airport” and facilitated air transport out of Afghanistan, which has been gripped with chaos in recent days as people within the country attempt to flee from the Taliban amid the United States’ withdrawal of troops. — This afternoon, the Post’s executive editor, Sally Buzbee, said in a statement that “most” of the paper’s journalists, support staff and their families were able to be safely evacuated from Kabul, but added that “there are a great number of journalists who remain” in the capital and that the outlet is “committed to supporting our colleagues” as they work to reach safety. CRYPTO STARES DOWN THE BARREL: “Over the past month alone, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Treasury Department announced more than $120 million in penalties aimed at digital currency exchanges and other service providers that officials said weren't complying with federal markets regulations and anti-money-laundering requirements. Several states also escalated their own crypto enforcement crackdowns this summer,” POLITICO’s Kellie Mejdrich reports, part of a trend that is “ triggering complaints from the industry and sympathetic lawmakers who say it threatens a growing sector of the economy.” — “‘This should serve as a massive wake-up call to the crypto industry,’ said Charley Cooper, a former CFTC chief operating officer now with software and blockchain technology firm R3. ‘A policy or a posture of ignoring Washington or showing disdain for Washington ... will ultimately be a failed strategy.’ The enforcement actions are fueling debate about how cryptocurrency players fit into financial regulations. Federal regulators say the new digital currency platforms must adhere to existing rules, but industry players counter that it's not that simple and that it's time for Congress to pass new laws that are more tailored to crypto.” — “This regulation by enforcement that we're seeing is not the way to go because it doesn't create good policy," Kristin Smith, who leads the Blockchain Association , told Kellie. "Regulators — in particular the SEC — think that the laws and regulations are crystal clear and that they're very easy to interpret. But for those of us on the other side of the table that are working in the industry and its ecosystem, the laws aren't clear, and it's very difficult to figure out how to apply them." | | | |   | | | | | | — Bob Bissen has joined the National Head Start Association as director of government affairs, where he will serve as NHSA’s head lobbyist. Most recently, he was senior vice president at Cannae Policy Group and prior to that was a senior director at APCO Worldwide for over 20 years. — Natalie Davis is the new CEO of United States of Care after co-founding the organization in 2018 and serving most recently as acting executive director. Davis previously worked at CMS for nearly a decade. — Rachel Gantz is leaving her post as communications director at the National Pork Producers Council to be the new media relations advisor at the Electric Power Research Institute. — Colin Tooze will run global policy and communications for Pacaso , a startup aimed at fractional second-home ownership. He previously spent 6years helping build Uber’s public policy team. — Kevin Pérez-Allen is now vice president for issue advocacy at BerlinRosen. He is a National Security Leaders for Biden and NALEO alum. | | A message from General Motors: We are America: The bold. The brave. The home of General Motors. Our uncompromising vision for an all-electric future will be powered by an American workforce as we continue our legacy of automotive innovation. | | | | | | Reclaiming the Majority (Sens. Lisa Murkowski, Todd Young, John Hoeven, NRSC) | | | United Democratic Women (Hybrid PAC) | | New Lobbying Registrations | | American Defense International, Inc.: Theoria Medical
Atlas Advocacy: Briotech Inc
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP: Alibaba Group Holding Limited
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP: Virtu Financial, Inc.
Byd Motors, LLC: Byd Motors, LLC
Crowell & Moring LLP: Wethetrillions
Evoqua Water Technologies: Evoqua Water Technologies
Ice Miller Strategies LLC: City Of Little Rock
Ice Miller Strategies LLC: Davenport Aviation
Keller Partners & Company: Garrett Regional Medical Center
Lobbyit.Com: Brain Aneurysm Foundation
Mr. Christopher Heinz: Performance Based Buildings Coalition
Prologis, L.P.: Prologis, L.P.
Putalastrategies: Asml US LLC
Putalastrategies: Invidior Inc.
Subject Matter (Fka Elmendorf Ryan): American Clean Power Association
The Cormac Group, LLC: Nextnav, LLC
The Duberstein Group Inc.: Amazon.Com Services LLC
The Edw Group: Tougaloo College
The Smith-Free Group, LLC: Calportland Corporation | | | | INTRODUCING OTTAWA PLAYBOOK : Join the growing community of Politicos — from lawmakers and leaders to pollsters, staffers, strategists and lobbyists — working to shape Canada’s future. Every day, our reporting team pulls back the curtain to shed light on what’s really driving the agenda on Parliament Hill, the true players who are shaping politics and policy across Canada, and the impact it all has on the world. Don’t miss out on your daily look inside Canadian politics and power. Subscribe to Ottawa Playbook today. | | | | | | | New Lobbying Terminations | | Husch Blackwell, LLP: Valmont Industries
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