Ballard to fundraise for potential Ways and Means chair

By Caitlin Oprysko

Presented by Natural Allies for a Clean Energy Future

With Megan R. Wilson and Daniel Lippman  

PROGRAMMING NOTE: We’ll be off this Monday for Presidents Day but will be back in your inboxes on Tuesday, Feb. 22.

BALLARD TO FUNDRAISE FOR POTENTIAL WAYS AND MEANS CHAIR: A gaggle of lobbyists at Ballard Partners is set to host a fundraiser next month for the lawmaker who could become the next chair of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee if Republicans retake the majority, according to an invitation obtained by PI.

— Founder Brian Ballard, along with Ballard’s Sylvester Lukis, Pam Bondi, Dan McFaul, Justin Sayfie, Rebecca Benn and Jose Felix Diaz will throw the March 1 fundraiser for Rep. Vern Buchanan of Florida, currently the top Republican on the tax writing panel’s Health Subcommittee. Suggested contributions begin at $500 per individual or $2,000 to attend, per the invitation, and go up to $1,500 per individual or $3,000 per PAC to be named a co-host.

— The firm, whose business boomed under the Trump administration thanks to Ballard’s friendship with the former president and which has picked up a number of Democratic and congressional lobbyists over the past year, snapped up Buchanan’s longtime chief of staff Dave Karvelas earlier this year.

CHAMBER SWATS DOWN PROPOSED GAS TAX HOLIDAY: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which is typically all about a tax cut, is roundly rejecting calls from some vulnerable Democrats to suspend the federal gas tax in a bid to address rising consumer costs, calling a proposal floated this week a “temporary stunt” that would undermine the much-touted bipartisan infrastructure bill that the Chamber lobbied hard to pass last year.

— A proposed bill to temporarily eliminate the 18.4 cents-per-gallon levy from Sens. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) and Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), two of the Democratic caucus’ most vulnerable senators, has long odds for passage. But Ed Mortimer , the Chamber’s vice president for transportation and infrastructure, shot the idea down in a statement on Wednesday nevertheless, arguing that any suspension of the fee “will negatively impact the Highway Trust Fund and has no promise of actually helping lower prices for consumers or improving the economy.”

— POLITICO’s Tanya Snyder digs into this more here, writing that pausing the gas tax for “even part of the year would blow an enormous hole” in the trust fund, which pays for highway, tunnel and bridge projects across the country.

Good afternoon and welcome to PI. Send tips: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on Twitter: @caitlinoprysko.

A message from Natural Allies for a Clean Energy Future:

Natural gas is accelerating our transition to a clean energy future. The pairing of natural gas with renewable sources has the potential to reduce carbon emissions by 78%. When available, renewables like solar and wind, eliminate emissions. When these sources are not available, natural gas fills gaps, ensuring affordability and reliability for all Americans while further lowering emissions. Natural gas is accelerating America’s clean energy future. Learn more at www.naturalalliesforcleanenergy.org

INVARIANT ADDS HEALTH CARE LOBBYIST: Ashley O’Sullivan has joined Invariant’s government relations team. O’Sullivan was most recently director of government affairs at the drug wholesaler AmerisourceBergen , where she developed and implemented the company's legislative agenda and helped build AmerisourceBergen’s employee PAC. Prior to that, she worked for Roberti Global, assisting corporate clients in the health care, energy, transportation, telecommunications and finance sectors.

TRUEPILL BRINGS ON K STREET HELP: Truepill, an online pharmacy, diagnostics and telehealth company, has brought on its first lobbying firm, TCH Group, Megan R. Wilson reports. The lobbyist on the contract, Michael Tongour, a former GOP aide on the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee, told POLITICO that he has been working primarily on government procurement issues — reaching out to Defense Department officials and letting them know about the company's ability to provide Covid-19 tests.

— Disclosure forms suggest the work could broaden, also mentioning "affordable prescription drugs" and "telehealth." Truepill helps fulfill prescriptions for companies like Hims & Hers, Nurx and the Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company.

TOP-ED: Jim Nussle , the head of the Credit Union National Association and a former congressman from Iowa, has an op-ed in The Hill today urging the powers that be on the Hill to “join us in the new normal” and “open the Capitol to the public.” In the piece, Nussle complains that when 4,000 members of his organization head to Washington for a fly-in next week, “only a fraction of them will be able to meet face-to-face with their elected representatives.”

— “Without those meetings, how can they have a say in the bills that could advance the communities they serve?” Nussle writes. While the Capitol has reopened to guests since the onset of the pandemic and last year’s insurrection, the building has still not reopened to the public.

— “Constituents face obstacles to meeting with their elected representatives,” Nussle writes. “Some offices remain entirely remote, while others are limiting meeting size to only five constituents at a time, with the burden of an escort. Still others are placing the financial and logistical burden of requiring proof of a same-day negative COVID-19 test to discuss matters important to communities across the country,” obstacles that he argues “raise serious questions about our lawmakers’ transparency and accessibility.”

— Nussle also calls the online platforms that have allowed fly-ins and other meetings on the Hill to continue virtually “a great backstop,” he argues “they can never replace the feeling and nuance that comes across in face-to-face engagement. Keeping lawmakers and staff safe is important, but surely proper vaccinations, masking, and so many other security measures put in place on the Capitol campus over the last two years are enough.”

STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president’s ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today.

ANNALS OF FUNDRAISING: “Donald Trump's spamming of Republican donors could kneecap party efforts to build a steady funding stream for future elections and compete with Democratic fundraising, top GOP officials are privately warning,” per Axios’ Lachlan Markay and Jonathan Swan.

— “The former president's decision to bombard donors with numerous daily emails and texts is sucking up record sums. Four top GOP digital strategists tell Axios it's also imperiling efforts to build a sustainable, grassroots base of financial support for anyone not named Trump.”

— Axios reports that “22 cents of every dollar in donations processed through GOP payment processor WinRed last year went not to GOP midterm candidates but to two Trump committees: Save America and the Trump Make America Great Again Committee,” and that “the two groups brought in more WinRed money than the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee — combined.”

— “As problematic as the volume, Republican critics say, is the tone. The appeals frequently rely on hard-sell tactics, such as questionable pledges that donations will be matched up to some multiple — tactics that have drawn the scrutiny of the Justice Department. ‘It's a massive issue. ... The tactics and strategies they use are not sustainable,’ one strategist said. The immense volume and frantic tone of Trump fundraising appeals are making it extremely difficult for other candidates seeking GOP small-dollar support to break through, operatives said. … All of this is building a Republican fundraising machine and ecosystem that's heavily reliant on one person: Donald Trump.”

THE ANTITRUST BATTLE LINES ARE DRAWN: “Progressive organizations are going big on anti-monopoly messaging as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce defends Big Tech,” Axios’ Ashley Gold reports. “As the Chamber launches attacks on antitrust moves against tech’s biggest firms, the group Fight Corporate Monopolies is launching a new ‘War Room’ campaign Thursday,” a day after the Chamber “released a report arguing that proposed antitrust bills in Congress aimed at Big Tech companies like Google, Apple, Meta and Amazon would harm American competitiveness and undermine national security.”

— “The group is betting that blaming big corporations for economic problems across U.S. sectors, including banking, pharmaceuticals and Big Tech, will be a winning message for Democrats in the midterm elections.” The group is also “launching a rapid response campaign and a six-figure public opinion research effort, along with preliminary poll results testing sentiment on the power of big corporations” led by Helen Brosnan, a Democratic strategist who worked on Elizabeth Warren's (D-Mass.) presidential campaign and for the Justice Democrats.

IF YOU MISSED IT WEDNESDAY: “Former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke violated ethics obligations in his land dealings with a Halliburton executive, the Interior Department’s internal watchdog said in a report released Wednesday. The report from the department’s inspector general confirms a series of issues POLITICO brought to light in 2018 during Zinke’s tenure as former President Donald Trump’s Interior secretary,” our Ben Lefebvre reports.

— “These issues include Zinke’s attempts to aid Halliburton’s then-chair David Lesar and other developers in creating a commercial development known as 95 Karrow on land adjacent to a vacant lot in Montana that Zinke controlled through a family-run nonprofit foundation, a deal that would have led to Zinke potentially running a microbrewery on the site.”

— “The negotiations, which included emails and text messages from Zinke to developers between August 2017 and July 2018, also involved meetings with Lesar and other developers in Zinke’s office at Interior’s D.C. headquarters even as the department was charged with overseeing Halliburton’s activities on federal land. The inspector general concluded Zinke did not comply with obligations in his ethics agreement, recusal memorandum and accompanying documents. … But the investigation did not find evidence that Zinke violated formal conflicts of interest laws or that Interior granted Halliburton any specific favors.”

SPOTTED at a DSCC fundraiser last night hosted by Prime Policy Group’s Emily Katz, Nathanson+Hauck’s Melanie Nathanson and SplitOak Strategies’ Sarah Egge , per a tipster: DSCC Chair Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) and Hassan, Sherry Widicus of Quest Diagnostics, Chris Davis of Cigna, J.C. Scott of the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, Liz Fox of United Health Group, Shoshana Krilow of Vizient, Oliver Kim of Cambia, Marty Paone and Aquila Powell of Prime Policy Group, Karishma Page of K&L Gates, Teresa Skala and David Caruolo of Anheuser-Busch and Zack Marshall of Alkermes.

DON’T MISS CONGRESS MINUTES: Need to follow the action on Capitol Hill blow-by-blow? Check out Minutes, POLITICO’s new platform that delivers the latest exclusives, twists and much more in real time. Get it on your desktop or download the POLITICO mobile app for iOS or Android. CHECK OUT CONGRESS MINUTES HERE.

— Manica Noziglia has been named vice president of Washington operations for General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems.

— Adrienne Cooper has been promoted to partner at Pivot. She was previously a senior vice president, and is an Environmental Defense Fund and Democratic National Convention alum.

— Third Way senior political analyst David de la Fuente is leaving to help run the DCCC’s Independent Expenditure, and director of education Tamara Hiler will move to Denver to drive Colorado Gov. Jared Polis’ education policy, Playbook reports.

— Brian Hale is joining FTI Consulting as a managing director in the cybersecurity practice. He previously was assistant director in the Office of Public Affairs at the FBI.

— Jones Day is adding seven former Supreme Court clerks from the most recent full term to its offices in Chicago, New York, San Diego and Washington: James Burnham, Brendan Duffy, Harry Graver, Madeline Lansky, Jack Millman, Krista Perry Heckmann and David Phillips .

— Mark Simakovsky has joined U.S. Agency for International Development as a deputy assistant administrator in the Bureau for Europe and Eurasia. He was previously senior vice president at Beacon Global Strategies.

— Nicole Porreca is joining Boeing as director for international operations and policy. She spent the past seven years as senior foreign policy adviser for Kaine and is an alum of the Obama NSC and the State Department.

— Judy Stecker has joined Hill+Knowlton Strategies as senior vice president and U.S. health care media and public affairs lead, Morning Pulse reports. She was previously a senior official at the Trump-era HHS, serving first as assistant secretary for public affairs and then as deputy chief of staff for operations and strategy. She also led external outreach for Operation Warp Speed and the health department’s Covid response work.

— Tusk Strategies is launching a dedicated transportation and infrastructure practice with a focus on emerging mobility themes like electric vehicles, autonomous transit and vehicle communications. Henry Greenidge and Seth Webb will co-lead the new practice. Beth DeFalco will lead the group’s communications, marketing and public relations efforts.

A message from Natural Allies for a Clean Energy Future:

The Emmer Hill Committee (Reps. Tom Emmer, French Hill)
GT Farm Team 2022 (Reps. Don Bacon, Jim Baird, Mike Bost, Rodney Davis, Jim Hagedorn)
Van Orden Crane Victory Fund (Eli Crane for Congress, Van Orden for Congress)

Save Glendora Schools (PAC)
Total Community Options Inc. dba InnovAge PAC (PAC)

Alston & Bird LLP: Gaggle
Bracewell LLP: Match Group Holdings I, LLC
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP: Tapestryhealth
Carmen Group Incorporated: Digital Gadgets
Cornerstone Government Affairs, Inc.: Atlanta University Consortium Center, Inc.
Cornerstone Government Affairs, Inc.: The University Of Louisiana Monroe Foundation
Cypress Advocacy, LLC: Financial Technology Association (Fta)
Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP: Ssm Health
Foley Hoag LLP: Rio Tinto
Gevo, Inc.: Gevo, Inc.
Holland & Knight LLP: City Of San Diego, Ca
Holland & Knight LLP: City Of Sugar Land, Tx
Invariant LLC: Datarobot, Inc.
Invariant LLC: Mccain Foods USa, Inc.
Jennifer Cupp: World Coffee Research
K&L Gates, LLP: Aleutian Maritime Lc
Kyndryl Inc: Kyndryl Inc
Lot Sixteen LLC: Orsted North America Inc.
Mehlman Castagnetti Rosen & Thomas, Inc.: National Association Of Professional Employer Organizations
Mercury Public Affairs, LLC: Zestfinance, Inc. D/B/A Zest Ai
Niagara Bottling, LLC: Niagara Bottling, LLC
Nuro, Inc.: Nuro, Inc.
Tai Ginsberg & Associates, LLC: Born Free USa
Tai Ginsberg & Associates, LLC: Bumble Bee Foods, LLC
Tai Ginsberg & Associates, LLC: Cape Cod Commercial Fishermans Alliance, Inc.
Tai Ginsberg & Associates, LLC: Fishing Communities Coalition
Tai Ginsberg & Associates, LLC: Woods Hole, Martha'S Vineyard And Nantucket Steamship Authority
Tch Group, LLC: Truepill
The Washington Tax & Public Policy Group (Formerly The Washington Tax Group): Bp Corporation North America Inc.
Thorn Run Partners: Applied Materials, Inc.
Thorn Run Partners: Broadcom Corporation
Thorn Run Partners: Clemson University
Thorn Run Partners: Community Council Health Systems
Thorn Run Partners: Connecticut Center For Advanced Technology (Ccat)
Thorn Run Partners: Edwards Vaccum
Thorn Run Partners: Euv Tech
Thorn Run Partners: Family Heart Foundation
Thorn Run Partners: George Mason University
Thorn Run Partners: Georgetown University
Thorn Run Partners: Integra Technologies
Thorn Run Partners: Kennedy Krieger Institute
Thorn Run Partners: Loyola University Maryland
Thorn Run Partners: Main Line Health
Thorn Run Partners: Medstar Health
Thorn Run Partners: National Center For Manufacturing Sciences
Thorn Run Partners: Neurotrauma Sciences, LLC
Thorn Run Partners: Oshkosh Corporation
Thorn Run Partners: Roper St. Francis Healthcare
Thorn Run Partners: Somalogic
Thorn Run Partners: Stratacache, Inc
Thorn Run Partners: Strategic Radiology
Thorn Run Partners: Surescan Corporation
Thorn Run Partners: Tectus Corporation Dba Mojo Vision
Thorn Run Partners: The Chemours Company
Thorn Run Partners: University Of Baltimore Maryland
Thorn Run Partners: Villanova University
Thorn Run Partners: Virginia Wesleyan University
Turntide Technologies: Turntide Technologies
Van Scoyoc Associates: New Classrooms Innovation Partners, Inc.

Cassidy & Associates, Inc.: Dji Technology Incorporated
Jack Ferguson Assoc., Inc.: Kent School
Tch Group, LLC: Stericycle Inc
Thorn Run Partners: Bird Rides, Inc.
Thorn Run Partners: Mcallister & Quinn On Behalf Of Villanova University
Travel Tech: The Travel Technology Association: Travel Tech: The Travel Technology Association
Vectis Dc: Los Angeles Police Protective League

A message from Natural Allies for a Clean Energy Future:

Across the country and across our economy, America is building a vital and exciting clean energy future. Natural gas is accelerating this transition and can help us rapidly achieve our climate goals. By partnering with renewable energy sources, natural gas has the potential to reduce carbon emissions by 78%. On its own, natural gas emits 50% less carbon compared to coal, making it a lower-carbon alternative that fills gaps and prevents disruptions whenever sources like solar and wind are unavailable. Existing interstate pipelines for natural gas also offer versatility for transporting hydrogen, renewable natural gas and other zero-carbon fuels of the future. Investing in natural gas infrastructure equips us for continued innovation while ensuring an affordable, reliable transition for all Americans. Natural gas is accelerating our clean energy future. Learn more at www.naturalalliesforcleanenergy.org

Follow us

To change your alert settings, please log in at https://www.politico.com/_login?base=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.politico.com/settings

This email was sent to by: POLITICO, LLC 1000 Wilson Blvd. Arlington, VA, 22209, USA

Please click here and follow the steps to .