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Delivered daily, Influence gives you a comprehensive rundown and analysis of all lobby hires and news on K Street. | | | | |  | | By Caitlin Oprysko | With Megan R. Wilson and Daniel Lippman BURR JOINS DLA PIPER: Former Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) is heading to the law and lobbying firm DLA Piper, where he will lead the firm’s health policy strategic consulting practice and serve as a principal policy adviser in its regulatory and government affairs practice. — Burr retired last month after nearly three decades in Congress, and served as the ranking member on the Senate HELP Committee and chair of the Intelligence Committee in recent years. He’s the first former senator to head to K Street out of last year’s class of lawmakers who retired or lost reelection. — In an interview with Megan and your host, Burr said he hopes to put his decades of expertise to use helping newer companies navigate the federal government and nudging the federal government to keep up with technology. — Though Burr is barred from lobbying his former colleagues for two years, he’s allowed to lobby the executive branch right away. That’s not imminent, said Burr, who argued that he doesn’t expect those restrictions to diminish his utility to clients. — “This is really focused on, how do we provide the expertise to have a plan that navigates Washington in a way that it makes tremendous sense to members of Congress,” he said. “I think part of that starts with the political intelligence that we provide, the knowledge of the legislative process, programming people to do the right things, to say the right things, because if [clients] can't display to members of Congress that destination that they're getting to, then there's no way to convey to Congress the public's benefit” from it. — Still, he expects to remain vocal on certain policy issues, like pandemic preparedness legislation he’s long championed. “Even though I'm banned for a period of time from going up and talking to any of them about legislation,” Burr said, “I plan to give some speeches and make some public comments, that might give them some insight as to how I see it.” — Burr added that DLA Piper’s global footprint was a major draw for him thanks to his intelligence work. He said he plans on retaining his security clearance and is looking at “what I can contribute both to government and for the private sector in the appropriate way going forward.” — Burr is bringing several of his aides with him to DLA Piper: Margaret Martin, the Senate HELP Committee’s former senior adviser of health policy, and Michael Sorensen, who served as Burr’s director of operations. Happy Tuesday and welcome to PI. What will you be looking for from President Joe Biden's State of the Union address tonight? Send tips: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on Twitter: @caitlinoprysko.
| | | | JOIN POLITICO ON 2/9 TO HEAR FROM AMERICA’S GOVERNORS: In a divided Congress, more legislative and policy enforcement will shift to the states, meaning governors will take a leading role in setting the agenda for the nation. Join POLITICO on Thursday, Feb. 9 at World Wide Technology's D.C. Innovation Center for The Fifty: America's Governors, presented by Cisco, where we will examine where innovations are taking shape and new regulatory red lines, the future of reproductive health, and how climate change is being addressed across a series of one-on-one interviews. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | FIRST IN PI — LOBBYIST DRAMA AT CUNA: A war of words broke out today between the Credit Union National Association and its former top lobbyist, who was abruptly terminated three weeks into his job, Daniel reports. — A lawyer for Robert Lewis, who was executive vice president and chief advocacy officer of CUNA, alleged that Jim Nussle, the group’s president, had told Lewis two days before his termination that Nussle "never had a Black direct report in [his] career" before and that he did "not know how to manage you [Lewis]." The lawyer, David Sanford of Sanford Heisler Sharp, LLP, said that Lewis was also not allowed to carry out his duties and alleged that CUNA had made him "a token diversity hire." — “[W]hen Mr. Lewis attempted to actually do his job and exert authority over his majority-white team, CUNA fired him after only twenty-two (22) days,” Sanford said in a statement. “CUNA has a big problem now and it will likely take a jury in Washington, D.C. to communicate how big a problem it is.” — The circumstances of what led to his firing are unclear. But Greg Michlig, executive vice president and chief engagement officer at CUNA, said in a statement that race had nothing to do with Lewis' termination. "CUNA will strongly defend unjustified claims and can clearly support its legitimate decision to terminate Robert Lewis. Mr. Lewis’s race was absolutely not a factor with regard to any employment decision and CUNA simply does not discriminate as to any protected characteristic." — Last Friday, Nussle, a former Iowa congressman and OMB director in the Bush administration, had emailed credit union league presidents to inform them that Lewis was no longer employed by CUNA. He said in the email, obtained by PI, that he was not going to share more about the decision to respect the privacy of the people involved. — “[D]ue to the sensitivity of the matter, we will not be sharing details, but ask you to trust that all implications were considered and fully vetted at the highest level of our organization. Our team of advocacy professionals and the duties they perform on behalf of America’s credit unions continues uninterrupted,” he wrote. — Before joining CUNA, Lewis had his own firm, the Van Aucker Group, and also had previously worked for the Financial Services Institute and Financial Executives International. He started his career working for former Sen. Zell Miller (D-Ga.). TRADE WHATCHA PARTY GAVE ‘YA: Investors looking to benefit from the same stock portfolio as their favorite lawmakers now have that option with the launch today of a pair of exchange-traded funds from activist fund manager Subversive Capital Advisor and the data platform (and unofficial congressional trade tracker) Unusual Whales. — One ETF will approximate the securities held by Democrats in Congress and their spouses, with the ticker name NANC for former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The ETF for the other side of the aisle will go by KRUZ, for Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (R). Its creators point to Congress’ stock holdings outperforming SPY, an ETF tracking stocks in the S&P 500 index, last year. — “Any American can look up what their individual or local representative holds, and see that in their portfolio,” Subversive’s Christian Cooper, who will manage the funds, told PI. “And it gives them an opportunity to own their values and sleep at night a little bit, I think, and that's kind of where we were going for.” — Pelosi in particular has become the face of pushes to ban members of Congress from holding or trading individual stocks while in office. But aside from the convenience of Pelosi’s central role in the debate, the ticker names of the two new ETFs aren’t anything personal, said Cooper. “You say either of these names and you instantly know who you're talking about. You have a mental image of them, know what they believe.” — The ETFs will be actively managed, meaning that the portfolios will be updated according to new STOCK Act disclosures — which can either come late or not at all — and could feature anywhere from 500 to 600 equity securities, according to a proposal filed with the SEC in September. They’ll be listed on Cboe BZX Exchange. — “It is very close to every security that is held and it's a large number,” Cooper said, quipping that “there's a Ph.D. thesis in here somewhere” unpacking what the parties’ holdings reveal about their worldviews. “I think people will be surprised by the — both composition and the number of securities that we actually hold in these.” — Though today’s launch has been in the works for the better part of a year, Cooper never worried that the ETFs could be rendered moot by a congressional stock ban, even as he predicted some smaller changes to disclosure requirements are possible. “I put zero probability around them actually doing anything that will help the American public,” he said. “So I had zero concern that we were gonna get banned before launch.” CHAMBER’S NEW REALITY: The fallout from Republicans’ antipathy toward the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is beginning to take shape on Capitol Hill under the new House majority, CNBC’s Brian Schwartz reports. — Spokespeople for both House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise told CNBC the lawmakers will refuse meetings with the business lobby over its endorsements of Democrats in the past two elections, accusing the organization of diverging from “the priorities of House Republicans” as well as “the interests of their own members.” — “Republican House lawmakers are drafting questions to send to the Chamber in the coming weeks, asking about its stance on ESG issues as well as questioning some of the group’s own conduct, including reportedly allowing former Chamber CEO Thomas Donohue to use the organization’s corporate jet for personal trips, according to lawmakers and advisors aiming to probe the organization. These people declined to be named in order to speak freely about private discussions.” — While the Chamber disputed the suggestion that its policies align more with Democrats, spokesperson Tim Doyle pushed back on Republicans’ complaints. “We do disagree with those who believe the Chamber should become a single-party partisan organization and we recognize that difference has created some tension,” he told CNBC. “We will continue, however, to do what we have done for over 110 years and that is advance the free-market priorities of the American business community.” — On Monday, the business group announced internally that its President and CEO Suzanne Clark had been approved for a new five-year term, rebuffing one of McCarthy and other Republicans’ purported demands. SENATORS ASK FOR DETAILS ON RESTAURANTS’ TRAINING PROGRAM: A group of Democratic senators is pressing the National Restaurant Association for financial information about the food safety training program it runs for restaurant workers and how that money is used for the trade group’s advocacy efforts. — “The National Restaurant Association’s underhanded and unscrupulous weaponization of ServSafe to fund its anti-worker lobbying operation by funneling the fees workers pay for the program into the very lobbying scheme that advocates to keep their wages and benefits stagnant deserves further scrutiny,” the lawmakers wrote to the group’s President and CEO Michelle Korsmo on Monday. — The letter was signed by Senate HELP Chair Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) as well as Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and comes after a New York Times report found the ServSafe program restaurant workers are sometimes required to take and pay for out of pocket has steered $25 million in revenues to the restaurant association, which has lobbied actively against state and federal efforts to raise pay for tipped workers, make it easier for them to unionize and more. — The lawmakers asked Korsmo to provide them with details about the costs of running the ServSafe program, how much revenue the program has brought in, how much of that money went toward lobbying efforts and political contributions, whether and how ServSafe participants are notified about where their training fees will go and details about the association’s lobbying efforts to make ServSafe certification mandatory.
| | | SPOTTED at a reception for new Republican House members hosted by Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld last night, per a tipster: Reps. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), Kevin Hern (R-Okla.), Mark Alford (R-Mo.), Eli Crane (R-Ariz.), Mike Ezell (R-Miss.), Harriet Hageman (R-Wyo.), Jen Kiggans (R-Va.), Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.), Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.), Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), Rich McCormick (R-Ga.), Max Miller (R-Ohio), Marc Molinaro (R-N.Y.), Nathaniel Moran (R-Texas), Keith Self (R-Texas), Dale Strong (R-Ala.), Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.) and Roger Williams (R-Texas), Del. Jim Moylan (R-Guam), James Robertson of AT&T, Bryan Wood of BlackRock, Sarah Brenholt of Cargill, Yancy Molnar of Chubb, Alice Joe of Fidelity, Roger West of Huntington Ingalls Industries, Kenichiro Mizoguchi of Hitachi, Kiyoshi Tanigawa of Keidanren USA, Emma Rindels-Hill of Lyft, Mike Mineiro of HawkEye 360, Yasuko Fumuro of Sumitomo, Annie Lawrence of UPS, Chip Bartlett of Financial Services Forum, Michael Dean of NCTA - The Internet & Television Association, Josh Lynch of Verizon, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Lamar Smith, Anna Abram, Hunter Bates, Brendan Dunn, Jeff McMillen, Zach Rudisill, Geoff Verhoff, Ryan Thompson, Casey Higgins and Sam Olswanger of Akin Gump. — And at a reception for new members hosted by CGCN Group and United by Interest at Microsoft’s D.C. office, per a tipster: Reps. Valerie Foushee (D-N.C.), Jonathan Jackson (D-Ill.), Seth Magaziner (D-R.I.), William Timmons (R-S.C.) and Rick Allen (R-Ga.); Tucker Knott of Sen. Ted Budd’s (R-N.C.) office, Molly Wilkinson and Steve Neuman of American Airlines, John Stipicevic of CGCN, Moyer McCoy of Philip Morris International and Shelly Marc of Meta. — Charlie Chapman is joining alb solutions as a policy associate. He was previously staff assistant for former Ways and Means ranking member Kevin Brady (R-Texas). — Polygon has named Rebecca Rettig its new chief policy officer. She was most recently chief legal and policy officer at Aave Companies. — Clay Heil is joining Crowley Maritime as vice president of global government relations. He was most recently a partner in Taft Stettinius & Hollister’s public affairs strategies group and is an Ice Miller and Thad Cochran alum. — Drue Banta Winters is joining Stronger America Through Seafood as campaign manager. She was previously policy director for American Fisheries Society. — Kristin Rudman is now media and communications manager at Squire Patton Boggs. Rudman most recently was senior director at The Levinson Group. — The Conservation Fund has added Abby Spring as senior vice president of strategic engagement. She was most recently founder and president of Spring Global. — Venn Strategies has promoted Emma Bishop, Kristen Constantine and John Richter to vice presidents, Justin Livesey to assistant vice president, Ruth Richards to senior executive assistant and Joshua Greene to associate. — Emily Duncan is joining American Electric Power as senior vice president of federal affairs. She was most recently vice president of government relations for National Grid. — Tim Baker has joined Ervin Graves Strategy Group as director of operations. He’s a founding partner at Ascendant Political and previously served as chief of staff to Rep. Rick Allen and former Reps. Tom Graves and Max Burns. — Matthew Kellogg is joining Rich Feuer Anderson as a principal after running government affairs and communications for MoneyLion. He earlier served at Treasury and as a senior policy adviser to McCarthy. — Pelham Groom is now a partner at Bullpen Strategy Group. Groom was previously managing director and leads the firm’s media intelligence offering. BSG also promoted Michael Ahrens, Joe Chaudoin, Olivia Perez-Cubas and Michael Zona to managing directors, Luke Marchant to senior vice president and Thomas Dee to director. — Wendi Wallace is now a partner at Technicolor Political. Wallace was previously deputy executive director of the Democratic Governors Association and political outreach director at Planned Parenthood Action Fund. — Jason Fishkin and Declan Hahn have started a new Democratic fundraising firm, FH Strategies. Fishkin was most recently gubernatorial finance director for Tom Suozzi and Hahn is a former DCCC adviser and finance director on multiple congressional campaigns. — Michael Joyce, Sophia Sirianni, Max Docksey and Alexis Valdez Darnell are joining the Republican State Leadership Committee. Joyce will be communications director and previously was deputy director of regional communications at the RNC. Sirianni will be digital director and previously was deputy digital fundraising director at the NRCC. Docksey will be political director and previously was a regional political director at the RNC. Valdez Darnell will be a senior adviser for recruitment and training and previously was a managing director at FP1 Strategies.
| | | Budd NC Victory Fund 2028 (Sen. Ted Budd, North Carolina Republican Party, Old North State PAC)
Meuser Victory Committee (NRCC, Rep. Dan Meuser, DAN-PAFIRST PAC)
| | | New Sheriff PAC (Leadership PAC: Mike Ezell)
Progress Libs (PAC)
THE TOMORROW PACT (PAC)
| | New Lobbying Registrations | | Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld: Snap Inc.
Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP: American Conservatory Theater
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP: Council Of Federal Home Loan Banks
Cornerstone Government Affairs, Inc.: Castlerock Green Energy, LLC
Davenport Policy: Ceres
Davenport Policy: Meridian Implementation Fund
Davenport Policy: Plant Based Foods Association
Hance Scarborough: Hyuk "Keith" Yoo
Holland & Knight LLP: Education Finance Council
Hollis Public Affairs: Jetblue Airways Corporation
Jones Walker, LLP: Bluetec Industries Offshore Wind Services, LLC
Jones Walker, LLP: Seatrec Incorporated
Jones Walker, LLP: Team Gleason Foundation
Liz Williams And Company: Superior Optical Labs, Inc.
Mcguirewoods Consulting (A Subsidiary Of Mcguirewoods LLP): Regent University
Mindset Advocacy, LLC (Fka Cypress Advocacy, LLC): Ledger Sas
Mindset Advocacy, LLC (Fka Cypress Advocacy, LLC): Paradigm Operations, Lp
Monument Advocacy: Bipartisan Policy Center Action
North Star Strategies, LLC: National Lime Association
Oscar Policy Group, LLC: Cornerstone Biocomp Enterprises, Inc.
Shumaker Advisors, LLC: The Columbus Zoological Park Association
Valcour LLC: African Mission Healthcare
Valcour LLC: Tonix Pharmaceuticals
| | New Lobbying Terminations | | Connect Strategy LLC: Big Cat Rescue
Connect Strategy LLC: Commonwealth Of The Northern Mariana Islands
Connect Strategy LLC: Redhorse Corporation
Drexel University: St. Christopher'S Hospital For Children
Government Relations Group, LLC: Seavee Boats, Inc
Government Relations Group, LLC: Shieldfive
J.A. Green And Company (Formerly LLC): Expression Networks, LLC
Mr. William Goldsmith: Asga Fisheries Policy Alliance, Inc.
O'Brien, Gentry & Scott, LLC: Haeco Special Services, LLC
Patricia Jordan & Associates, Inc.: San Joaquin Regional Transit District
Providence Strategies, LLC: Chesapeake Real Estate Development
Ridgely Walsh LLC: Renew Democracy Initiative
Riverside Strategic Solutions, LLC: Alphapointe
Rivian Automotive, LLC: Rivian Automotive, LLC
Robert Gerber: Icewind USa
Tradewins, LLC: Ge Transportation
Tradewins, LLC: Primesource Building Products Inc.
Williamson Law + Policy Pllc: Corn Refiners Association
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