Conservative business group taps Barr to helm legal arm

From: POLITICO Influence - Thursday Apr 13,2023 10:07 pm

Apr 13, 2023

With Megan R. Wilson and Daniel Lippman

BARR TO LEAD CHAMBER RIVAL’S NEW LEGAL ARM: The conservative business group seeking to win over former allies of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has enlisted a powerful player to help take their fight against government regulation to the courts.

— The Center for Legal Action, a new legal appendage of the American Free Enterprise Chamber of Commerce launched today, will be led by two-time Attorney General Bill Barr and will seek to dismantle the “increasingly out of control” regulatory state through litigation, Barr said in an emailed response to questions.

— The new Center for Legal Action mirrors the U.S. Chamber’s legal arm, the Institute for Legal Reform, which leads legal challenges against the government on the business lobby’s behalf. “There is a lot of work that needs to get done, and no one has a monopoly on protecting American businesses,” Barr said in response to the potential for overlap between the two legal groups. “There is a lot of work to do — enough for everybody.”

— Barr, who will serve as chair of CLA’s advisory board, said the CLA will mainly oppose “regulations that have a wide systemic impact, like the SEC’s climate disclosure proposal, but also regulations that harm specific business sectors, as well as small business.”

—The group is still ramping up its in-house staff who will help devise CLA’s legal strategy, Barr said, which will also include providing congressional testimony and supporting others’ legal challenges. "Having somebody who has the intellectual heft and experience of Bill Barr will give instant credibility to the legal efforts," former SEC Chair Jay Clayton (who now advises several industries facing heightened regulations themselves) said in a statement provided by CLA.

— Barr wouldn’t rule out one day challenging rules promulgated by his former employer, Donald Trump, should Trump’s third White House bid be successful, and he pointed to his long private sector legal career challenging regulations as well.

— “CLA views itself as an ally of the business community and a defender of our free enterprise system,” Barr said when asked about the possibility of working against his one-time boss, who Barr has repeatedly split with since leaving office. “We’ll take on any issues that harm American growth, prosperity, and competitiveness, or that undermine free enterprise or the constitutional rights of individuals and businesses. Our activity and mission will not change based on the administration.”

NEW BUSINESS: Lobbying filings are beginning to pour in ahead of next week’s first quarter disclosure deadline. Here are a few that have caught PI’s eye over the past few days: Antitrust lobbyist Seth Bloom has signed Adobe, one of the latest targets of the Biden administration’s crackdown on Silicon Valley mergers and acquisitions.

— The former general counsel for the Senate’s antitrust subcommittee began working last month to boost Adobe’s $20 billion proposed takeover of design collaboration company Figma, as well as on general competition issues for the design software giant. Bloomberg reported in February that the Justice Department is preparing a lawsuit to block the merger, which was announced in September.

— The Crypto Council for Innovation, meanwhile, added a third outside firm, Rich Feuer Anderson, to its lineup of outside lobbyists as several of its members find themselves in the crosshairs of U.S. regulators.

— Rich Feuer Anderson began working last month for the crypto trade group, whose members include the crypto exchange Coinbase, which the SEC has put on notice for a potential lawsuit, and Gemini, which the SEC sued earlier this year, in addition to Fidelity, Block, Andreessen Horowitz, OpenSea and Paradigm (the now-bankrupt exchange FTX was previously a member). The Crypto Council, whose advisers include former Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), also retains Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld and Sternhell Group, along with its own in-house lobbyists.

Happy Thursday and welcome to PI. Send tips: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on Twitter: @caitlinoprysko.

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THE LATEST SHOE TO DROP: “In 2014, one of Texas billionaire Harlan Crow’s companies purchased a string of properties on a quiet residential street in Savannah, Georgia. It wasn’t a marquee acquisition for the real estate magnate, just an old single-story home and two vacant lots down the road.”

— “What made it noteworthy were the people on the other side of the deal,” ProPublica’s Justin Elliott, Joshua Kaplan and Alex Mierjeski write in the latest installment of their series on Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

— “The transaction marks the first known instance of money flowing from the Republican megadonor to the Supreme Court justice. The Crow company bought the properties for $133,363 from three co-owners — Thomas, his mother and the family of Thomas’ late brother, according to a state tax document and a deed dated Oct. 15, 2014, filed at the Chatham County courthouse.”

— “The purchase put Crow in an unusual position: He now owned the house where the justice’s elderly mother was living,” and meanwhile, “Thomas never disclosed his sale of the Savannah properties” in apparent violation of a federal disclosure law that requires justices and other officials to disclose the details of most real estate sales over $1,000, ethics experts told ProPublica.

GENERICS LOBBY SLIMS DOWN: Simmering tensions inside one of the nation’s leading trade organizations for generic drugmakers could threaten its lobbying clout at a crucial time for the industry, Megan reports.

— The Association for Accessible Medicines has lost some members or reduced dues to keep others, contributing to the need for more than $4 million in budget cuts that culminated in layoffs of top public affairs, trade policy and advocacy executives.

— It comes as the organization is attempting to raise its profile with the public and policymakers — including pushing for policies to expand access to generics and biosimilars — and is still searching for a permanent CEO after its former leader stepped down at the end of 2022.

— “In baseball, there's something called the golden sombrero — it's when a guy strikes out four times in a game. It's really embarrassing,” said an executive who has worked at several health care trade associations and was given anonymity to speak about the situation. “Their golden sombrero is a dysfunctional board, no money, no staff, no agenda. That's a pretty bad combination.”

— People with knowledge of the trade group’s inner workings told Megan that while AAM has a promising vision for elevating the generic and biosimilar industries, they worry the group may be too under-resourced to execute it. And a diminished trade group for the industry could have negative consequences for its members: Only eight of its 23 member companies employ in-house lobbyists in Washington, outside firms or both.

— AAM disputed the characterization, saying the organization is “right-sized” and its board is united in its defense of an industry critical to American medicine, accounting for 91 percent of drugs sold in the U.S., but 18 percent of spending on medicines. And the group is still very much in the mix on Capitol Hill: This week, interim CEO David Gaugh was part of a small, closed-door roundtable of experts advising the Senate HELP Committee as it works to draft drug pricing legislation covering generic drugs and pharmacy benefit managers.

MORE NEW BUSINESS: GE Aerospace, the forthcoming successor of General Electric and GE Aviation following the spinoff of GE’s health care and energy businesses, has brought on Crossroads Strategies to lobby on defense authorizations and appropriations. The team of lobbyists on the account includes former Sens. Trent Lott and John Breaux in addition to appropriations lobbyists Hunter Moorhead and Wally Burnett.

— The Entertainment Software Association, which represents the video game industry, has hired Ogilvy Government Relations to help foster relationships with officials in Washington, according to a disclosure.

FOES LINE UP TO CHALLENGE EMISSIONS PROPOSAL: “President Joe Biden’s attempt to force automobile companies to supercharge the supply of electric vehicles could spur a huge fight with the oil and gas industry — and provoke a partisan feeding frenzy from Republicans looking for their next gas-stoves-style culture war,” POLITICO’s Tanya Snyder, Ben Lefebvre and Kelsey Tamborrino report.

— “The automakers themselves — the industry most directly affected — expressed wary resignation about Wednesday’s proposed pollution standards, despite cautioning that the swift transition Biden is envisioning may not be practical.”

— “But elements of the oil industry, which has a lot to lose if gasoline-fueled cars fade from the nation’s highways, are already suing to block a previous Biden-era auto pollution rule. The ethanol industry, whose product is blended into gasoline, joined that lawsuit. So did several Republican-led states, who argued that the Environmental Protection Agency lacks the authority to order such a sweeping change in how Americans get around.”

— Republicans state attorneys general challenging the previous Biden rule are signaling that they might respond similarly to Wednesday’s proposal, while Republicans in Congress, who could eventually marshal an effort to overturn it, also blasted the Biden proposal.

— “The oil and gas industry for the most part seems to be happy to let other industries poke holes in the rule, or for it to collapse under its own weight, lobbyists told POLITICO,” but trade groups for refining companies and ethanol interests said they would be pressuring Washington to make changes to the proposal.

— Meanwhile another industry lobbyist warned the oil industry couldn’t just “leave it up to the autos because they have very different goals: The autos take issue with the speed with which they’re accelerating the energy transition, not the transition itself.”

Jobs Report

— Forbes Tate Partners has announced more than a dozen promotions, including Kelley Williams and Kristina Dunklin to partner on the government relations team; Clare Flannery and Meg Baglien to senior vice president on the public affairs team; and Chanse Jones, Will May and Colin Finnegan to vice president on the public affairs team.

— Andrew Mann has joined Troutman Pepper’s Washington office as a partner in the firm’s consumer financial services practice. He most recently counsel at K&L Gates and is a White & Case and FTC alum.

— Michael Strazzella is now co-chair of Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney’s government relations section that comprises Florida, Pennsylvania and federal capabilities. He’ll continue to lead the firm’s federal government relations team and co-lead the Washington office and its health care industry group.

— Sara Beth Watson has joined Wiley Rein as of counsel in the environment and product regulation group. She’s spent the past three and a half decades at Steptoe & Johnson, where she was most recently of counsel.

— Marc Goumbri is now deputy chief of staff and senior adviser to the president at the AFL-CIO, replacing Julie Greene Collier, who’s moved up to chief of staff. He previously was senior adviser to the president at the Service Employees International Union.

— Sofia Rose Gross is now communications director at Anduril Industries. She most recently was head of policy partnerships and social impact at Snapchat and is currently a public affairs officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve.

New Joint Fundraisers

BARRASSO BLACKBURN VICTORY COMMITTEE (Sens.John Barrasso, Marsha Blackburn, Making a Responsible Stand for Households in America PAC, Common Values PAC)

New PACs

Maine Future Fund (Super PAC)
The National League of America PAC (Super PAC)
National Security Policy Action (Super PAC)

New Lobbying REGISTRATIONS

Actum I, LLC: Ibx, LLC
Actum I, LLC: Inventus Power
Actum I, LLC: Kbr, Inc. F/K/A Sgt, Inc.
Actum I, LLC: Morgan State University Foundation
Actum I, LLC: Relative Dynamics
Actum I, LLC: Southeastern Universities Research Association, Inc.
Actum I, LLC: Southwest Research Institute
Actum I, LLC: Synoptic Data
Actum I, LLC: The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory LLC
Aeroflow Healthcare Inc: Aeroflow Healthcare Inc
Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP: Employee-Owned S Corporations Of America
Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP: Zinus, Inc.
Ballard Partners: Alternative Solutions Group LLC D/B/A Guardian Health
Ballard Partners: Manatee County
Bloom Strategic Counsel: Adobe Inc.
Boundary Stone Partners: Amogy, Inc.
Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP: The Conafay Group (For Antimicrobials Working Group)
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP: Connect Holding Ii, LLC D/B/A Brightspeed
Capitol Counsel LLC: University Of Massachusetts, Boston
Central Washington University: Central Washington University
Crossroads Strategies, LLC: Ge Aerospace
Imperium Global Advisors: Futurewei Technologies, Inc
Imperium Global Advisors: Pacific Light & Hologram
Jmh Group, Formerly Jamian Mcelroy & Hamlin, LLC: Cyberlux Corporation
Kiley & Associates: City Of Bakersfield
Kiley & Associates: City Of Lakewood
Kiley & Associates: City Of La Quinta
Kiley & Associates: City Of Milpitas
Kiley & Associates: City Of Perris
Mrc Government Strategies And Advocacy: Umbra Space
Ogilvy Government Relations: Constellation Brands, Inc.
Ogilvy Government Relations: Entertainment Software Association
Ogilvy Government Relations: Peabody Energy
Rich Feuer Anderson: Crypto Council For Innovation
Smi: A&P Technology Inc.
Thorn Run Partners: Mott Corporation
Thorn Run Partners: National Star Route Mail Contractors Association
Thorn Run Partners: Rogue Valley Microdevices, Inc.
Thorn Run Partners: Wec Energy Group
Tiber Creek Group: Bicycle Health, Inc.
Tiber Creek Group: National Strategies, LLC (Obo Vulcanforms, Inc.)
Triwest Healthcare Alliance: Triwest Healthcare Alliance

New Lobbying Terminations

Active Policy Solutions, LLC: Monique Burr Foundation For Children
Adams And Reese, LLP: Offshore Marine Services Association
Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney Pc: Eqt Corporation
Cornerstone Government Affairs, Inc.: Hsbc Technology & Services USa Inc.
Horizons Global Solutions LLC: Conexon LLC
Horizons Global Solutions LLC: Medco33 LLC
K&L Gates, LLP: Nanobusiness Commercialization Association
K&L Gates, LLP: Nanotronics Imaging, Inc.
Mcdermott+Consulting LLC: Premise Health
Mcdermott Will & Emery LLP: Daikin Comfort Technologies
Mcdermott Will & Emery LLP: Pabst Brewing Company
Mcguirewoods Consulting (A Subsidiary Of Mcguirewoods LLP): Sukey And Gil Garcetti
Milne, Wiener & Shofe Global Strategies (Fka M & W Government Affairs, LLC): Noosphere Ventures, Lp
M.J. Bradley & Associates, LLC: Calpine
M.J. Bradley & Associates, LLC: Clean Energy Group Strategy/Mjb&A Coalitions
M.J. Bradley & Associates, LLC: National Grid
Nwg Advocacy LLC: Puerto Rico Manufacturers Association
Pardes Biosciences, Inc.: Pardes Biosciences, Inc.
Polsinelli Pc: Kalkomey Enterprises
Subject Matter: Ande

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