With Daniel Lippman BROWNSTEIN SHAKES UP D.C. OFFICE: One of K Street’s top-earning lobbying shops is starting the new year with some leadership changes in its Washington office. Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck’s Nadeam Elshami and Will Moschella will become co-chairs of Brownstein’s government relations practices, succeeding Marc Lampkin. Lampkin has been in the role since 2014, and will focus on client service and business development going forward. — The ascension of Elshami, a former chief of staff to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Moschella, a George W. Bush DOJ and House Judiciary alum, is a nod to the firm’s longstanding emphasis on bipartisanship, Elshami and Moschella told PI. — “Frankly, there are gonna be a lot of opportunities and challenges in the coming two years,” Elshami said in an interview, adding that the best approach is to have “Republicans and Democrats working in leadership roles to drive forward an agenda for our clients.” — There won’t be any major significant changes to how the office is run, Moschella said, but he added in an interview that he’s eager to bring his perspective as a former executive branch official to the firm’s leadership team. — While he expects the Biden administration likely won’t slow down off of Capitol Hill, “helping our clients navigate the divided Congress is clearly going to be of paramount importance,” he added, pointing to Senate Democrats’ newly secured subpoena powers. FIRST IN PI — ROCHA EXPANDS INTO PUBLIC AFFAIRS: Solidarity Strategies, the consulting firm run by Democratic strategist Chuck Rocha, is rolling out a new public affairs offering to build on the firm’s political outreach in Latino communities. — “We now are the go-to firm when it comes to Latino voters,” said Rocha, a former adviser to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) presidential campaigns. “Why not offer that service to nonprofits, environmental groups, corporations, trade associations to help them have a stronger relationship with the Latino community?” — The firm’s political clients have included the DNC, Democrats’ Senate Majority PAC, the Democratic Attorneys General Association, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute and lawmakers from Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.). — Solidarity Strategies has previously done public affairs for groups like the Environmental Defense Fund, GreenLatinos, UnidosUS and the National Confectioners Association , Rocha said, but now the minority-run firm plans to formally begin offering those services “to connect folks who want to have a stronger relationship with the Hispanic caucus or with Hispanic constituents around the country.” — “I think we're really unique in this space that’s dominated by white-owned firms,” he said, adding that while the ultimate goal is to one day spin off the public affairs operation into its own separate branch of the firm, Rocha said for the current cycle existing staff will steer clear of lobbying in order to continue doing political work. Hello and welcome to PI and to 2023, where your host is still coming down from Saturday’s midnight thriller in Atlanta but excited to be back in action. Send your best New Year’s lobbying tips: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on Twitter: @caitlinoprysko. DOYLE HEADS TO K STREET: Former Rep. Mike Doyle wasted no time finding his next gig after leaving office. The Pennsylvania Democrat has joined the Pittsburgh office of K&L Gates as a government affairs counselor in its lobbying practice, the firm announced last week. — Doyle opted not to run for reelection last year after a nearly three-decade career in the House, during which he served on the powerful Energy & Commerce Committee and chaired its Communications and Technology Subcommittee, where he staked a claim as a fierce defender of net neutrality rules. Doyle also helped found and lead congressional caucuses focused on autism, robotics, decentralized power generation and hydrogen. — “Congressman Doyle’s deep experience in areas of energy, robotics, and health care makes him an ideal fit for this office, and will be of great value to our clients in those industries,” Thomas Smith, the managing partner of K&L Gates’ Pittsburgh office, said in a statement. — In his own statement, Doyle, who is barred for a year from lobbying his former colleagues on the Hill, said he would “continue assisting Pittsburgh-area and other businesses, universities, and non-profits with accessing federal support and helping them navigate the complexities of the legislative and executive branches in Washington, D.C.” K STREET PREPARES TO FEEL THE BERN: “Health care lobbyists representing insurers, drugmakers and a range of powerful industry interests are steeling themselves for a Senate chair immune to their usual charms,” POLITICO’s Megan Wilson reports. — Bernie Sanders is set to take the helm of the influential Senate HELP Committee, giving “the Medicare-for-All proponent oversight authority over some of his policy priorities — drug pricing, workers’ rights and income inequality, and student and medical debt.” — “But Sanders’ well-chronicled antagonism toward lobbyists has some concerned they’ll be unable to blunt criticism of their clients’ profits or corporate executive salaries. They are anxious Sanders might seek to revive policies like importing drugs from Canada and other nations, an idea loathed by drugmakers.” — “‘This will not be business as usual for K Street. It will be harder for companies to get in and make a case,’ said Michaeleen Crowell , a lobbyist at lobbying and public affairs firm S-3 Group who served as Sanders’ chief of staff for more than five years. ‘The culture in the office is one where lobbyists are mistrusted, and they’re more likely to discount what they hear directly from companies.’” — “Multiple lobbyists representing health insurers, pharmaceutical companies, providers and health systems told POLITICO they’re going to have to ‘bank shot’ their advocacy to get their messages across — lobbying other lawmakers on the committee and getting into the ears of progressive policymakers and left-leaning organizations.” — Others downtown will be keeping an eye on Sanders’ alliance — or lack thereof — with his GOP counterpart on the panel, Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy. “Although some lobbyists have floated policies around drug pricing and surprise billing as a possibility for them to find agreement, it’s not entirely clear if they’ll end up on the same page,” per Megan. WATCHDOGS CRY FOUL OVER PROPOSED GOP ETHICS RULES: “House Republicans plan to change the rules of the ethics office charged with investigating lawmakers when the new session of Congress begins on Tuesday,” The Wall Street Journal’s Natalie Andrews reports. — “The House-rules package that incoming GOP leadership negotiated with members would impose changes on the Office of Congressional Ethics, or OCE, regarding its board and hiring new staff, potentially limiting the office’s ability to investigate lawmakers. The new rules would also allow the House Ethics Committee to take complaints directly from the public.” — “While lawmakers from both parties have at times complained that the OCE has too much power, advocates see the office as integral for reviews of complaints about misconduct and criticized the proposed changes. ‘These are measures that will render the ethics office ineffectual and which no member, from either party, should support,’ said Craig Holman, government affairs lobbyist with Public Citizen, a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization.” — “The rules package released by House Republicans and set for a full House vote on Tuesday would place term limits on the eight-person OCE board, an action that would remove three of four Democratic board members.” — The proposal would also limit new hires for a month and require sign-off from at least four board members, and comes “as Republican lawmakers have faced scrutiny over any involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the Capitol, and incoming Rep. George Santos (R., N.Y.) faces questions about his background, after he admitted fabricating parts of his personal and work history.” IF YOU MISSED IT LAST WEEK: “Republican lawmakers are vowing to crack down on big investment managers pushing climate and social agendas. But the Wall Street giants are finding they have few defenders in Washington to help fend off the assault,” per our Zach Warmbrodt. — “The multitrillion-dollar asset managers — primarily BlackRock and its outspoken CEO Larry Fink, Vanguard and State Street — aren’t getting cover from major business trade groups whose members are divided on the issue. And they have no Republican allies, according to interviews with nearly a dozen industry representatives, lawmakers and climate advocates.” — “Some industry players feeling the heat are privately agitating for a more unified front against the attacks. But Republicans leading what they call the ‘anti-woke’ charge in Congress said they’re feeling little resistance from business lobbying groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The GOP lawmakers say they have growing evidence that their effort is getting traction, with Vanguard walking away from an international climate change group in December.” — “The political isolation of the world’s largest money managers is a window into how the GOP’s recent pivot to populism on Big Business can paralyze industry lobbying efforts. It’s also forcing companies to rethink how they message environmental and social goals, even if they’re aimed at satisfying customers, investors and employees.”
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