UKRAINE PREPARES FOR GOP TO HOLD THE PURSE STRINGS: “ Ukrainian officials are warning Republicans who may soon take control in Congress: Defeating Russia means providing not just weapons, but more money for Ukraine’s economy as well,” POLITICO’s Alex Ward and Nahal Toosi write. — “Ukrainian leaders believe that, despite dissident notes from some on the far right, a fully or partially GOP-led Congress won’t skimp on giving Kyiv military aid. In fact, Ukraine expects ‘even more robust’ weapons packages if Republicans are in charge, said Daniel Vajdich, a lobbyist in touch with Ukrainian officials. ”The Ukrainians are more concerned about Republicans paring back future economic aid to their country.” — “Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his aides know ‘there may be some different challenges than existed before’ in a post-midterm world,” said Vajdich, himself a former aide to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). “‘There’s a recognition in Kyiv that they’re going to have to work with Republicans to help them understand that support for Ukraine can’t just be about guns.’ … It’s a message lawmakers are hearing directly from Ukrainian officials and through their representatives in Washington.” — “Funding for Ukraine drew new attention after House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy , the potential next House speaker, recently said there would be no ‘blank check ’ for Kyiv if the GOP wins.” Still, “a senior administration official said the Biden team wasn’t worried about support for Ukraine dropping should Republicans take either or both chambers of Congress,” telling Alex and Nahal “the administration also expects a majority of Republican House members to force McCarthy to stay the course.” TECH TRIES A NEW APPROACH IN IMMIGRATION PUSH: Tech leaders “have revved up a push for Congress to pass immigration changes before the end of the year, with a pitch aligning those policies to the national security concerns that sparked a recently enacted science and technology funding law,” Roll Call’s Suzanne Monyak reports. — “Tech leaders say they hope to persuade Congress to follow up the law passed three months ago, which aims to reinvest in domestic semiconductor manufacturing and scientific research, with measures to draw the foreign talent to U.S. businesses that they say is needed to make that happen.” — “Concerns about high migration levels at the U.S-Mexico border have overwhelmed discussions about immigration legislation this Congress, including revisions to key employment-based immigration programs for foreign professionals with advanced degrees” that tech companies have long clamored for. — “But the tech sector hopes to connect the issue with the stated goals of the law, known as the CHIPS and Science Act, to bring semiconductor manufacturing back to American shores and better compete with foreign rivals like China. Linda Moore, president and CEO of TechNet, a tech lobbying group that counts Amazon, Apple and Google among its members, said the sector can now frame follow-up immigration action as a chance ‘to deliver on the promise of what this bill was passed to do.’” INDUSTRY BANKROLLS INFLUENTIAL AG RESEARCH CENTER: An agricultural research center at the University of California, Davis whose head has become a vocal critic of calls to scale back certain meat consumption in the name of health and sustainability “ receives almost all its funding from industry donations and coordinates with a major livestock lobby group on messaging campaigns,” The New York Times’ Hiroko Tabuchi reports. — Internal documents show that the Clear Center at UC Davis, “which has become a leading institution in the field of agriculture and climate, was set up in 2019 with a $2.9 million gift to be paid out over several years from the Institute for Feed Education and Research , or IFeeder, the nonprofit arm of the American Feed Industry Association, a livestock industry group that represents major agricultural companies like Cargill and Tyson.” — The group, which is run by Frank Mitloehner , “had also received more than $350,000 from other industry or corporate sources, the documents show, including nearly $200,000 from the California Cattle Council, a regional livestock industry group,” as of April 2022. — “There is no indication that Dr. Mitloehner or the Clear Center violated disclosure requirements,” and Mitloehner “said the livestock industry’s financial and other ties to his research center were instrumental to the center’s mission. … He also highlighted the work that his lab was doing with the industry to reduce its emissions of greenhouse gases.” Still, “critics say that close financial ties between a research center and the industry it studies create the potential for conflict of interest.” CORRECTION: Friday’s edition of Influence misidentified the organization that moved its event from the Trump Bedminster, N.J., golf course after the Jan. 6 riot. It was the PGA of America. PI regrets the error.
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