MCMURRY-HEATH OUT AS BIO CHIEF EXECUTIVE: Michelle McMurry-Heath resigned on Monday as chief executive of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization, the biotech lobbying group said, a day after The Wall Street Journal reported McMurry-Heath was on leave following disagreements over the group’s direction and the drug industry’s failure to block new drug pricing rules in Democrats’ reconciliation package. — McMurry-Heath will remain with BIO as an adviser to the executive committee and Rachel King, the co-founder and former CEO of GlycoMimetics , will serve as interim CEO as BIO begins the search for McMurry-Heath’s successor, the group said. BIO is regularly one of the top spenders on K Street. The company retains nearly a dozen outside lobbying firms and shelled out $13.3 million on lobbying last year — its most ever. It’s on track to approach that sum again through the first half of 2022. — On Sunday, the Journal’s Jared Hopkins and Ted Mann reported that “some members have wanted BIO to engage more on general social issues not directly connected to healthcare policy, while [McMurry-Heath] felt the organization’s advocacy should stay focused on biotech, some people said.” — “Some board members expressed concerns about her performance and management style, people familiar with the matter said. BIO has conducted a review of her job performance, some people familiar with the matter said. Some of those people questioned whether the review was fair.” — The group isn’t the only drug lobby beset with internal shake ups following the industry’s drug pricing defeat earlier this year. Drugmakers’ top lobbying group, PhRMA, saw the departure of its most senior Democrat and lured back one of its former lobbyists in the weeks after President Joe Biden signed the reconciliation bill, and its drug pricing provisions, into law. WHO’S HELPING LIV IN WASHINGTON: “LIV Golf’s tentacles are penetrating deeper into the nation’s capital,” POLITICO’s Hailey Fuchs reports. The Saudi-funded golf league’s latest hire in Washington is McKenna & Associates, “a non-partisan firm headed by Bush administration alum Andrew McKenna” that “is providing LIV with management consulting services, according to copies of correspondences viewed by POLITICO and people familiar with the arrangement.” — “The firm helped LIV with monitoring and tracking the advocacy of families of 9/11 victims who were protesting the tour because of its ties to the Saudi government, according to the correspondence.” The league told POLITICO in a statement that “McKenna has supported the management team as we continue to reinvent the global game of golf.” — “It’s not the first time in recent years that McKenna & Associates has done work for a controversial, high-profile client. The firm was at the heart of accusations that the National Rifle Association engaged in insider dealing when it hired the wife of a top NRA official. The NRA’s own accountants reportedly raised concerns about the conflicts posed by that arrangement and its work in general, for which McKenna & Associates earned millions.” — “And in 2020, New York Attorney General Tish James sued the NRA, alleging in part that top NRA officials hired McKenna’s firm without going through the NRA’s contract process and paid it $5 million over five years. That case is ongoing.” — LIV at one point also enlisted the help of a subsidiary of PR giant Edelman and has retained HHQ Ventures, which facilitated a Washington blitz last month by LIV CEO Greg Norman, illustrating “the degree to which LIV Golf has sought to ingratiate itself in D.C. circles. The rollout of the tour has roiled professional golf and captivated Washington lawmakers, largely because of the organization’s Saudi funding.” HOPPED OFF THE PLANE AT LAX: Ballard Partners is putting down roots out West, opening a Los Angeles office for its first U.S. outpost outside the East Coast. Wendy Bruget, who most recently served as director of government affairs for L.A. waste and recycling collector Athens Services, will join Ballard as a partner and head up the opening of the new office. — Ballard will also bring on Jason Ziven of Sanders Roberts as a senior adviser. Tola Thompson, a partner in Ballard’s Washington office, and Tom Cerra, a strategic partner, will offer client services from the Los Angeles office as well. — The Florida-based firm, which expanded outside of the Sunshine State for the first time during the Trump administration and quickly saw business boom thanks to founder Brian Ballard’s friendship with the former president, has since opened offices in Boston, Tel Aviv and Istanbul. NEW COALITION TO PUSH LNG EXPORTS: “The largest U.S. natural gas producer is leading a new coalition that will push for increased production and exports of liquefied natural gas, arguing the fossil fuel can help drive emissions reductions,” E&E News’ Carlos Anchondo reports. — “Pittsburgh-based EQT Corp. is the founding member of the Partnership to Address Global Emissions (PAGE) — a group launched Tuesday to support the increased build-out of infrastructure used to produce and export U.S. LNG.”
— “The group, which includes TC Energy Corp. — the Canadian company behind the canceled Keystone XL oil pipeline — also consists of an advisory council of representatives from think tanks, unions and academia. Its arrival comes as Europe and other parts of the world look for new energy supplies while Russia's war in Ukraine continues. Toby Rice, EQT’s chief executive and PAGE's first president, said more U.S. LNG exports can help address a global energy crisis ‘driven by a shortage of cheap, reliable, clean energy.’” CORRECTION: Friday’s edition of Influence misstated when Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.) is up for reelection. He is running for reelection this year. PI regrets the error.
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