DEMS ASK GARLAND TO REVIEW LIV-PGA DEAL: “Two U.S. senators are urging Attorney General Merrick Garland and Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter to scrutinize the PGA Tour’s planned alliance with the DP World Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and to oppose the deal if it reduces competition in violation of federal antitrust laws,” ESPN’s Mark Schlabach reports.
— “In a letter sent to Garland and Kanter on Tuesday, a copy of which was obtained by ESPN, Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., wrote that although details of the proposed alliance are unclear, ‘the red flags regarding antitrust concerns are clear.’” — “The senators wrote that the proposed alliance ‘enable[s] the Saudi government’s efforts to “sportswash” its egregious human rights record’ and ‘raises an array of potential legal and regulatory issues, including relating to the PGA Tour’s non-profit tax status and antitrust law.’” — They pointed to the PGA Tour’s own legal arguments to that effect as part of its litigation against LIV, arguing that the planned deal “would make a U.S. organization complicit — and force American golfers and their fans to join this complicity — in the Saudi regime’s latest attempt to sanitize its abuses by pouring funds into major sports leagues.” — They also likened the union to American Airlines’ attempts to partner with JetBlue, a deal shot down by a federal judge earlier this year, and pounced on the two golf leagues’ walking back of calling their alliance a “merger.” BIDEN AIDES HANG A SHINGLE: A pair of Biden White House alums is getting involved in the woke wars, seeing a giant opportunity in helping companies take a stand on socially liberal issues without paralyzing fear of the conservative backlash, Daniel reports. — Alex Yudelson, who was executive secretary to former Domestic Policy Council director Susan Rice, and Thomas Isen, who was a senior adviser for Cabinet Secretary Evan Ryan, are launching a social impact consulting firm this week: Second Floor Advisors. — The firm’s name comes from the duo’s time together working on the second floor of the West Wing. Its mission comes, in part, from watching corporations like Target and Anheuser-Busch experience immense retribution from the right after recently embracing LGBTQ causes or products. As Yudelson told West Wing Playbook, the key is “knowing when and when not to speak out are equally as important.” — Second Floor Advisors follows a long line of startup consultancies launched by political operatives riding the coattails of their White House service. But this one seems poised to capitalize on a unique moment in the culture wars: in which a wave of conservative anger has put corporations and, to an extent, Democrats on their heels. — So far the firm has signed an NFL team — whose name they declined to disclose — to help navigate the battle against crime and gun violence around their stadium without alienating fans. They also have signed Tory Burch, helping the luxury fashion label respond to incidents of gun violence that have happened near stores, like the one last month outside of Dallas, as well as advocate for addressing the gender pay gap in the fashion industry. (The label was founded by Tory Burch, Isen’s aunt.) THE ENEMY OF MY ENEMY: “Top Democratic strategists, including current advisers to President Biden and former U.S. senators, met last week with former Republicans who oppose Donald Trump at the offices of a downtown D.C. think tank” to strategize ways to thwart the centrist group No Labels’ bid to support a third-party presidential ticket in next year’s election — an effort critics argue would only help former President Donald Trump. — “The broad show of force at the off-the-record gathering — with about 40 people in the room and others appearing on Zoom on the anniversary of D-Day — was just the latest sign of a growing concern in some political circles about the No Labels effort to get ballot access to challenge the major-party candidates next year,” The Washington Post’s Michael Scherer reports. — “Attendees included former White House chief of staff Ron Klain, Democratic National Committee senior adviser Cedric L. Richmond and Stephanie Cutter, a former campaign adviser to Barack Obama who has worked with the Biden team” — and the co-founder of progressive public affairs firm Precision Strategies. — “They were joined by former senators Doug Jones (D-Ala.), Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) and Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), along with representatives of the anti-Trump Lincoln Project, former Weekly Standard publisher Bill Kristol and Lucy Caldwell, a former Republican consultant who now advises the independent Forward Party, according to people present at the event, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the event was private.” MEANWHILE, IN CALI: “A first-of-its kind California proposal to require clothing producers to fund textile-recycling programs is drawing opposition from the national fashion industry,” per our Allison Prang. — Legislation that cleared the state Senate last month “would have California regulators establish a mandatory textile-recycling program by 2025 for all companies selling clothing in the state. It would authorize California’s Department of Resources, Recycling and Recovery to begin imposing minimum recycling targets starting in 2032, and would fine producers up to $50,000 per day for violations.” — “Retailers and manufacturers say the bill is too broad. In a sign of their engagement, they’ve been meeting with the bill’s backers every three weeks; a representative from the American Apparel and Footwear Association, which represents major retailers and manufacturers like Adidas, Chanel and Forever 21, flew out to Sacramento last week for a meeting.” — “‘We’re interested but as it is right now, I don’t think we can say we’re fully supportive,’ said Chelsea Murtha, AAFA’s director of sustainability. Among Murtha’s concerns are that the bill doesn’t define what would be considered unusable textiles, or address the reuse of textiles.” — “Joanne Brasch, special projects manager for the California Product Stewardship Council, a nonprofit that’s backing the legislation, said she didn’t think the bill should explicitly define usability and should leave it up to the producer responsibility organization. She also said reuse was implicitly covered.” LOBBYISTS WIN TWEAK TO RAIL SAFETY BILL: “For nearly a decade, lawmakers and railroad regulators have been trying to get puncture-susceptible tank cars, designed in the 1960s for non-hazardous shipments, off the nation’s tracks,” an issue lawmakers sought to address in bipartisan rail safety legislation introduced following February’s toxic derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. — But The Lever’s Julia Rock reports that “last month, the bill’s co-sponsor, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), quietly amended his own legislation to delay the tank car change by years, at the request of rail and chemical industry lobbyists.” — “According to lobbyists’ Senate testimony, manufacturers would have been unable to comply with the faster timeline — even though one of the lobbying group’s members has previously said manufacturers could build and retrofit tank cars on this production schedule.” — A substitute amendment from Vance and Senate Commerce Chair Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), adopted as part of the panel’s markup of the bill on May 10, “delayed the tank car enhancement deadline from May 2025 to December 2028 at the latest. After the amendment passed, Vance touted the American Chemistry Council’s support for the bill — without mentioning that the lobbying group had backed the change to the tank car rules.” SPOTTED in at a reception on Tuesday hosted by the Friends of the National Asian Pacific American Museum celebrating the first anniversary of President Joe Biden’s signing of legislation creating a commission to study the potential creation of a National Museum of Asian Pacific American History and Culture, per a tipster: Rep. Grace Meng (D-N.Y.), Del. Amata Radewagen (R-American Samoa), former DOT Secretary Elaine Chao, Erika Moritsugu, Krystal Ka’ai and Hannah Kim of the White House; Handel Lee, Debbie Shon and Ting Xu of the Friends of the National Asian Pacific American Museum; Francine Friedman of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, Cindy Tsai and Elizabeth Kerr of the Committee of 100, Sanjeev Joshipura of Indiaspora, Minsuk Han of Kellogg, Hansen, Todd, Figel & Frederick, Nikitha Rai of Rep. Andy Kim’s (D-N.J.) office, and Nisha Ramachandran of Rep. Judy Chu’s (D-Calif.) office. — And at a reception Tuesday hosted by the Association of American Medical Colleges to celebrate the contributions of academic medicine to the health of people and communities, per a tipster: David Skorton and Danielle Turnipseed of AAMC, Reps. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.) and Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa); Danny Jacobs of Oregon Health & Science University, Mike Waldrum of ECU Health, Dennis Murphy of Indiana University Health, Kirk Calhoun of the University of Texas at Tyler, Carol Bradford of the Ohio State University College of Medicine, Corey Ensslin of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Charlotte Rock of the Senate Finance Committee, Mandar Jadhav of the Senate HELP Committee, Kelsi Wilson of Rep. Brad Wenstrup’s (R-Ohio) office, Chris Goldson of Rep. Gwen Moore’s (D-Wis.) office, Cameryn Blackmore of Rep. Terri Sewell’s (D-Ala.) office, Elizabeth Joseph of Rep. Michael Guest’s (R-Miss.) office, Julia Rossman of Rep. Shontel Brown’s (D-Ohio) office, and Ryan Dalbec of Rep. French Hill’s (R-Ark.) office.
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