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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 help from Daniel Lippman MORAN ADDS A REPUBLICAN: Dwayne Bolton has left Mindset after less than a year to join Moran Global Strategies, the new firm founded by former Rep. Jim Moran. Bolton is the first Republican lobbyist to join the firm, which Moran told PI this spring would, with any luck, be able to crash through partisan gridlock in Washington. — Bolton joined Mindset in October after becoming the first Republican lobbyist at the well-connected Democratic firm theGROUP D.C. in 2021. Before that, he served in various roles in the Trump administration’s Energy Department in addition to working in-house for Caterpillar, the Association of American Railroads and Edison International. He also worked on the Hill for House Armed Services Chair Mike Rogers (R-Ala.). — He’ll be a vice president at Moran Global Strategies and help lead the firm’s international, defense, transportation and energy practices. FIGHT OVER DCA SLOTS HEATS UP: The fight over whether lawmakers should allow northern Virginia’s Reagan National Airport to add more slots for long-haul flights or expand the airport’s 1,250-mile perimeter for direct flights reached a fever pitch over the past 24 hours ahead of a planned markup of the Senate FAA reauthorization bill. — The markup was ultimately postponed due to a disagreement over a different amendment, our Alex Daugherty reports, though the DCA slot expansion was set to come up as well, unlike in the House FAA proposal, which punted on the issue. — But opposing sides in the fight dug in on Wednesday and throughout the morning today. In a joint op-ed in The Washington Post Wednesday afternoon, Virginia and Maryland’s Senate delegations accused supporters of the slot expansion of seeking “to destabilize” the “tried-and-true equilibrium” between the DMV’s three major airports “with unwelcome changes.” — Chief executives of American Airlines, Alaska Airlines and United Airlines, each of which could see their business hit by more long-haul flights out of DCA, piled on with a warning that the carriers “strongly oppose changes to the slot and perimeter rules.” The admonition was the first time American and Alaska had weighed in on this year’s push for slot expansion. — The carriers pointed to suggestions by the FAA and Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority that tweaking the rules would lead to increased delays. The CEOs also noted that including the provisions “endangers timely passage of critical FAA Reauthorization legislation to improve the safety and efficiency of air travel for the entire system,” a notion the United-backed Coalition to Protect America’s Regional Airports seized on this afternoon in a statement. — Delta Air Lines, which is spearheading the pro-expansion campaign along with local Chambers of Congress and lawmakers whose districts currently have no direct flights out of DCA, reiterated its support for the proposal this morning. The current rule, CEO Ed Bastian contended, is “costing consumers time and money, both regionally and in western states,” while hurting competition. Happy Thursday and welcome to PI. Send lobbying tips: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on Twitter: @caitlinoprysko.
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SUBSCRIBE TODAY. | | | | | LIVING LIFE: Saudi-backed golf league LIV Golf and the PGA Tour are still taking new heat from Washington in the wake of last week’s announcement that they plan to join forces after more than a year of backbiting. — Senate Finance Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), who asked the Justice Department earlier this week to probe whether the planned deal would violate antitrust law or compromise the PGA’s current tax-exempt status, announced his own inquiry into the alliance today. — In a letter to PGA executives, Wyden demanded answers to dozens of questions focused on executive compensation with regard to the tax exemption issue; whether the joint entity, which would be bankrolled by potentially billions of dollars from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, might pose any national security concerns; and whether any conflicts of interests exist stemming from the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz advising PGA on the merger and Wachtell partner Ed Herlihy serving as the Tour’s chair. — The senator also said he would move to revoke the Saudi wealth fund’s tax exemption, which is intended to entice investment in the U.S. by foreign governments and sovereign wealth funds. — Meanwhile The Wall Street Journal’s Andrew Beaton and Louise Radnofsky report that DOJ “has notified the PGA Tour that it will review the Tour’s planned merger with LIV Golf’s Saudi backers for antitrust concerns,” citing people familiar with the matter — making it “probable that any transaction that is hammered out between the rivals won’t take effect for some time.” CONSERVATIVES LOOK TO USE MEDICAL CACHET FOR ABORTION CRACKDOWN: The Washington Post’s Lauren Weber, Caitlin Gilbert and Taylor Lorenz report that “a small group of conservative doctors has sought to shape the nation’s most contentious policies on abortion and transgender rights by promoting views rejected by the medical establishment as scientific fact, according to documents reviewed by The Washington Post that describe the group’s internal strategies.” — “The records show that after long struggling to attract members, the American College of Pediatricians gained outsize political influence in recent years, primarily by using conservative media as a megaphone in its quest to position the group as a reputable source of information.” — “The organization has successfully lobbied since 2021 for laws in more than a half-dozen states that ban gender-affirming care for transgender youths, with its representatives testifying before state legislatures against the guidelines recommended by mainstream medical groups, according to its records. It gained further national prominence this year as one of the plaintiffs in the federal lawsuit to limit access to mifepristone, a key abortion drug.” — “Despite efforts to invoke the credibility of the medical profession, the American College of Pediatricians is viewed with skepticism by the medical establishment. For years, the group has presented statistics and talking points to state legislators, public school officials and the American public as settled science while internal documents emphasize how religion and morality influence its positions.” WHOOPS: “The top Republican on the Senate Energy panel is calling for an investigation of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, after she told the committee she mistakenly provided false information about her family’s stock holdings in testimony earlier this year,” The Associated Press’ Matthew Daly reports. — “Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso on Wednesday asked the Energy Department’s inspector general to look into what Barrasso called ‘multiple instances of questionable ethical conduct since the start of her tenure’ in 2021. Barrasso’s request came after Granholm sent a letter to the committee revealing she owned financial stocks as recently as May, contradicting testimony she gave to the panel in April.” — “Granholm also said her husband, Daniel Mulhern, owned previously undisclosed stock in Ford Motor Co., a key player in the Biden administration’s efforts to improve fuel efficiency for cars and trucks and boost sales of electric vehicles.” SPOTTED at BGR Group’s suite at last night’s Congressional Baseball Game, per a tipster: Reps. Jason Smith (R-Mo.), Kevin Hern (R-Okla.), Bryan Steil (R-Wis.), Scott Fitzgerald (R-Wis.), Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.), Laurel Lee (R-Fla.), Julia Letlow (R-La.), Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.), David Joyce (R-Ohio), Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), Dan Meuser (R-Pa.), Ron Estes (R-Kan.), Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.), Brandon Williams (R-N.Y.), Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.), Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.), Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-N.D.), John Joyce (R-Pa.), Michelle Fischbach (R-Minn.) and Eric Burlison (R-Mo.).
| | | | LISTEN TO POLITICO'S ENERGY PODCAST: Check out our daily five-minute brief on the latest energy and environmental politics and policy news. Don't miss out on the must-know stories, candid insights, and analysis from POLITICO's energy team. Listen today. | | | | | | | | | — Kristin Kelleher is now New England director of public affairs at Equinor. She most recently was stakeholder engagement manager for Beacon Wind at Equinor. — Greg Wallig has been promoted to head of public policy at Grant Thornton. He was previously head of government affairs and is also managing principal for the firm’s MetroDC-Arlington market. — Rachel Campbell, Patrick Brown and HardPin are launching Novel Messaging, a media buying and message strategy shop. Campbell previously led teams at Do Big Things and 270 Strategies, Brown previously led the EMILY’s List federal campaigns team before starting FOGLAMP digital, where he is also a partner. — Seven Letter has added Blair Taylor as a managing director and Maura Hogan as a senior director. Taylor previously was communications director for former Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) and is a Senate Appropriations Committee alum. Hogan previously was senior vice president at BCW Global and is a State alum. — Cara Camacho is now chief of staff for Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn). She previously was a senior vice president at the Bank Policy Institute and is an Obama Treasury, DOD and NSC alum. — Kaelan Dorr is now chief marketing officer at Valuetainment Media. He previously was global head of engagement at Gettr and is a Trump alum. — Brian Sylvester is now a partner in Perkins Coie’s food and beverage regulatory and litigation practices. He most recently was special counsel at Covington & Burling. — Laura Hernandez-Smith will be an account director at ROKK Solutions. She currently is communications director for Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.).
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National Consensus Party.org Limited (PAC)
| | New Lobbying REGISTRATIONS | | Alignment Government Strategies: Filecoin Foundation
Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP: Immigration Voice Corp.
Carmen Group Incorporated: Clay Lacy Aviation
Icebreaker Strategies, LLC: Anduril Industries Inc
Icebreaker Strategies, LLC: Applied Research Associates, Inc. (Ara)
Icebreaker Strategies, LLC: Caci International, Inc.
Icebreaker Strategies, LLC: Camgian Corporation
Icebreaker Strategies, LLC: General Dynamics
Icebreaker Strategies, LLC: Hyperion Technology Group, Inc.
Kellen Company: Association For Meat, Poultry And Seafood Innovation
Magill Associates, LLC: Global Technical Systems
Mccaulley&Company: Lorain County Agricultural Society
Mehlman Consulting, Inc.: Addus Homecare
Mehlman Consulting, Inc.: Skywest, Inc.
Monument Advocacy: Lucid USa, Inc.
Moran Global Strategies, Inc.: Nelson Mullins (O/B/O Federation Of Bangladesh Chambers Of Commerce & Industry)
Patino Brewster & Partners, LLC: Central Romana Corporation, Ltd.
Patz Government Strategies, Inc.: Schweiger Dermatology Group
S-3 Group: Association Of Home Appliance Manufacturers
S-3 Group: Lego Systems, Inc.
The Chertoff Group: Thayermahan Inc.
Thegroup Dc, LLC: Counslr, Inc.
The Prenda Group LLC: Indra Sistemas
Tiber Creek Group: Cormedix, Inc.
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