Collins’ chief of staff heads to K Street — 2 more big K Street hires — Conservatives launch push to preserve the filibuster

By Caitlin Oprysko

Presented by the American Beverage Association

With Daniel Lippman

FIRST IN PI — S-3 ADDS COLLINS’ CHIEF OF STAFF: Olivia Kurtz is leaving the Hill after nearly two decades to become a principal at S-3 Group. She was most recently chief of staff to Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), for whom she has worked a decade, and who is about to become one of the most powerful lawmakers in the 50-50 Senate chamber. Kurtz is prohibited from lobbying her former colleagues for a year, but told PI she expects to register once she is legally able and until then will work with a range of clients at the firm on strategic advising.

— Kurtz acknowledged that her former boss is a “hugely influential” member of the chamber — and Collins’ sway is only expected to grow with President Joe Biden’s emphasis on bipartisanship. Kurtz said that her decision to leave the Hill was not an easy one but that after an “extremely extremely busy year” she was “feeling ready for a new challenge” and looking for “a slightly more flexible schedule than the United States Congress” in order to spend more time with her family.

TWO BIG K STREET HIRES WITH BIDEN TIES: Former Rep. Russ Carnahan (D-Mo.) has joined Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner as a senior policy adviser in its government affairs shop. Carnahan, a former member of the Democrats’ whip team, left Congress in 2013 after eight years when the redistricting process eliminated his district. He’s been a partner at Carnahan Global Consulting ever since. The former Congress member also helped the Biden campaign with organizing in Missouri last year. Carnahan said in an interview he’s not yet sure whether he’ll register to lobby and expects to work in part on infrastructure issues — “I really believe the stars have aligned for a great opportunity for an infrastructure package and to do it in a way that can be bipartisan,” he noted.

— And BGR Group has hired former NATO Ambassador Douglas Lute to lead its international and defense practices. Lute has served in two administrations, as a deputy national security adviser for Iraq and Afghanistan during the second Bush presidency, and as a coordinator for South Asia in the Obama administration before becoming ambassador to the North Atlantic military alliance. The hire comes after four years of former President Donald Trump pillorying the alliance, while Biden has pledged to repair the U.S.’ frayed relationship with members of the trans-Atlantic alliance.

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

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CONSERVATIVE GROUPS RUSH TO SAVE THE FILIBUSTER: A coalition of prominent conservative organizations is launching a push to defend the legislative filibuster, which has been a key sticking point in Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell ’s negotiations to reach a power-sharing agreement in the evenly divided chamber. More than two dozen groups, including Heritage Action, Americans for Tax Reform, Club for Growth and FreedomWorks, sent a letter to senators this morning slamming Schumer’s refusal to rule out eliminating the 60-vote threshold, warning that “short-term political ends do not justify the means of destroying” the procedural tool meant to give the minority party more leverage.

— “This is an aggressive step grassroots Americans don't support — if Democrats truly want to ‘lower the temperature,’ they will figure out how to work with all Senators instead of changing the rules to jam through their agenda,” Heritage Action Executive Director Jessica Anderson said in a statement. McConnell has sought to make protecting the filibuster a condition of reaching an agreement on governing, which Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said Sunday was a non-starter.

— The progressive group Stand Up America , on the other hand, announced today that it will launch its own push to “prioritize passing democracy reform” in Biden’s first 100 days, a campaign that includes passing voting, elections and ethics reforms, D.C. statehood and, you guessed it, eliminating the filibuster. The group plans to use its “network of more than 8,000 remote volunteers as it works to pressure Congress to act on these democracy measures, and will also continue using digital ads, peer-to-peer texting, and other innovative organizing tools,” according to a press release.

THE UNOFFICIAL GUIDE TO OFFICIAL WASHINGTON: The new Playbook team got off to fast start last week with a series of big scoops. The reporting foursome of Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza and Tara Palmeri will roam every corner of Washington, bringing you the big stories you need to know–and the insider nuggets that you want to know–about the new power centers and power players in Washington. “This town” has changed. And no one covers this town like Playbook. Subscribe today.

TRUMP ETHICS REVERSAL OPENS DOOR TO FOREIGN LOBBYING BOON: Trump’s “last-minute move to scrap his administration’s own ethics rules will make it easier for his former aides to lobby on behalf of foreign interests — the same line of work behind so many Trump-era scandals,” our Theodoric Meyer reports.

— “Michael McKenna, a former lobbyist who worked in Trump’s White House legislative affairs office, said he had no intention of lobbying for foreign governments but thought other former Trump administration officials would jump at the chance.” Others on K Street cheered Trump’s decision allowing former staffers to immediately begin some lobbying, which came as aides face an increasingly bleak job market . “‘It puts a number of people who were on the sidelines [back] in the game,’ said one lobbyist whose firm has hired former Trump administration officials. But others are skeptical staffers from the previous administration will have much sway.”

MORE LAST-MINUTE REPRIEVES FOR THOSE WITH TRUMP TIES: “The Trump administration quietly moved in its final days to ease sanctions imposed in late 2017 on an Israeli billionaire who had been punished by the Treasury Department for corrupt and abusive mining practices in the Democratic Republic of Congo,” The New York Times’ Eric Lipton reports. It’s a reversal that came amid lobbying from close friends of the former president “who were hired by Dan Gertler, the Israeli billionaire, including the lawyer Alan M. Dershowitz, who helped represent Mr. Trump during his first impeachment, and Louis J. Freeh, a former F.B.I. director.”

WHAT’S BEHIND AMAZON’S VACCINES OFFER?: Our Susannah Luthi noted over the weekend that Amazon’s generous Inauguration Day offer to assist the Biden administration with coronavirus vaccine distribution comes as the company harbors its own “ambitions of expanding into the $3.8 trillion health care marketplace. … if it’s accepted, the offer may give Amazon a valuable new trove of health data just as it’s expanding into pharmacy and digital health. That worries critics — including progressives calling on Biden to keep Big Tech firms at arms’ length.”

— A spokesperson “rejected the idea that the company’s offer was motivated by a desire to gain competitive leverage or stir up good publicity. The spokesperson, noting that Amazon made a similar offer to states last month, said it’s a matter of public responsibility for corporations to lend their help to the health crisis.” And it’s “unclear how seriously the new White House is taking Amazon’s offer,” which was slim on details.

OPM ARRIVAL LOUNGE: The White House has announced its first slate of political appointees in the Office of Personnel Management, including Chris Canning, most recently an executive vice president in public affairs division of DKC Public Relations, as chief of staff; Lynn Eisenberg, a former strategic response counsel at WilmerHale, as general counsel; Shelby Wagenseller, most recently a vice president in Signal Group’s communications shop, as press secretary; Dave Marsh, who worked on state and federal policy at the Markle Foundation, as senior adviser to Canning; Mini Timmaraju, an executive director for diversity, equity and inclusion at Comcast, as senior adviser to the director; and Jason Tengco, a former executive director of the National Federation of Filipino American Associations as White House liaison.

— Coherus BioSciences has hired Ben Kenney and Amanda Major as government affairs directors. Kenney was previously director of external affairs and communications at HHS, and Major was previously federal affairs manager for the Children's Hospital Association.

— Elena Brennan will be a policy adviser for Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.), Playbook reports. She was previously a lobbyist at Arnold & Porter and is a Marsha Blackburn and Energy and Commerce Committee alum.

— Sean Gallagher will direct federal regulatory affairs efforts for the Solar Energy Industries Association, in addition to his role as vice president of state affairs, Morning Energy reports.

— The National Audubon Society named Jamaal Nelson as its chief equity, diversity and inclusion officer, Morning Energy reports. Nelson was previously partner and adviser with the Management Center. The hire comes in the wake of a POLITICO report about a culture of intimidation and racial inequity at Audubon. Audubon also hired Elizabeth Gray as its chief conservation officer. She previously worked at The Nature Conservancy.

HAPPENING TUESDAY - DRAWING THE ETHICAL LINE ON ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: As AI becomes increasingly ingrained in our everyday lives, there are concerns about biases in these systems and ethical standards to guide their fair use. Without an international framework or set of principles governing AI, the ethical guidelines for its use vary across countries and cities and sometimes even come down to individual policymakers, elected leaders, the private sector, and grassroots advocates' work. Join POLITICO for a conversation to explore the pace of global AI innovation and development and what it means for the future of ethical standards in this space. The virtual program features an executive conversation between POLITICO CEO Patrick Steel and Workday EVP of corporate affairs Jim Shaughnessy. REGISTER HERE.

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A10 Associates, LLC: Powerhouse Capital, LLC
A10 Associates, LLC: The Fallon Company
Confluence Government Relations: Independent Restaurant Coalition
Dinino Associates, LLC: Cornerstone Government Affairs Obo Octasic Inc.
Jones Walker, LLP: Arena Energy L.P.
Mcguirewoods Consulting (A Subsidiary Of Mcguirewoods LLP): Smh2 Manufacturing LLC - Blueprint Foods
Mercy For Animals, Inc.: Mercy For Animals, Inc.
Palladian Hill Strategies: Campaign For Tobacco-Free Kids
Peter Damon Group LLC: Boa Vida Healthcare, LLC
Rubicon Advisors, LLC: Hypoparathyroidism Association
Strategics Consulting, LLC: The Hamm Consulting Group On Behalf Of City Of Chattanooga, Tn
The Kpm Group Dc LLC: Chiesi USA, Inc.

A10 Associates, LLC: Goldberg Segalla On Behalf Of Parkervision
Data Coalition: Data Coalition
Foley Hoag LLP: Bluebird Bio
Hanka Advisor LLC: City Of Sterling Heights
Holland & Hart LLP: Vineyard Wind LLC
Mercury Public Affairs, LLC: Caresource
Mercury Public Affairs, LLC: Mcdermott+Consulting LLC On Behalf Of Abbott Diabetes Care
Mercury Public Affairs, LLC: Salesforce.Com Inc.
Mercury Public Affairs, LLC: Veterans Evaluation Services, Inc.
Rulon & White Governance Strategies: Bitcoin Holdings And Satoshi Nakamoto Renaissance Holdings
Rulon & White Governance Strategies: Gd Medical Inc
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP: Diem Association (Fka The Libra Association)
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP: Diem Association (Fka The Libra Association)
Velocity Government Relations, LLC: Hermeus Corporation
Velocity Government Relations, LLC: Planet Labs Federal Inc.

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