TAKING THINGS INTO THEIR OWN HANDS: “The rift between big business and Republicans that’s playing out in boardrooms and on the presidential campaign trail is also changing how states shape economic policy in Washington,” The Wall Street Journal’s Eliza Collins and Natalie Andrews report.
— The split has prompted wariness from state and local chambers of commerce about top Republican lawmakers’ disdain for their national counterparts at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Some of those groups have begun to work around the U.S. Chamber to manage their relationships with top House Republicans like House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise. — “‘It’s pretty common knowledge that the House leadership on the Republican side is not very enamored with the U.S. Chamber,’ said former GOP Rep. Matt Salmon, a registered lobbyist who Arizona and Texas have hired to set up meetings with McCarthy and Scalise. The state chambers ‘don’t want to let go of those opportunities to share their message of a pro-business, pro-commerce agenda.’” — Neil Bradley, the Chamber’s chief policy officer, refuted the idea that the organization had seen its influence diminished. In a statement to PI, Chamber spokesperson Kasper Zeuthen defended moves that had upset Republicans. — “Our agenda is driven by our members. Most of the time that aligns with the agenda of the majority of elected officials, sometimes it does not,” he said, adding that the Chamber’s position was aligned with House Republican leadership on all five pieces of legislation that it has key voted this year. He also pointed to Chamber lawsuits against a half dozen federal agencies seeking to block Biden administration policies. NO TELLING FOR NO LABELS: “No Labels’ bid to run a third party presidential candidate in 2024 has sparked a number of questions about political motivations. Chief among them: Who, exactly, is paying for this thing?” our Heidi Przybyla and Shia Kapos write. — “The centrist group consists of a constellation of entities, some of which disclose donor names,” but its main organ is structured as a nonprofit, meaning it isn’t subject to any of those requirements. “And in an interview with POLITICO, its CEO, Nancy Jacobson, declined to do so, saying simply that it was a ‘mixed’ pool of individual contributors including ‘people that want to help our country.’” — The group’s chief strategist argued that decision protects donors’ privacy and safety, but “No Labels’ refusal to reveal donor identities has worsened tensions in Washington, where a smattering of Democratic and anti-Donald Trump conservatives have accused the group of potentially kneecapping President Biden’s reelection.” — “They say that unlike other nonprofit groups, No Labels is essentially running a presidential campaign without the requirements that apply to formal political parties; namely disclosures. Experts in campaign finance law say that the organization is walking right up to the line of what is permissible.” TIKTOK’S COMMS SHAKEUP: Video sharing platform TikTok announced the departure of a key executive on Thursday in addition to naming a new face for its communications shop as the app continues to fight for survival in the U.S. — “V. Pappas, who joined TikTok as chief operating officer to run its North American business in 2018, will become a strategic adviser to the company,” The New York Times’ Sapna Maheshwari reports. “Adam Presser, TikTok’s chief of staff, will become its head of operations.” — “The company also said Zenia Mucha would oversee its sprawling communications team. Ms. Mucha, who led a 500-person global media relations team at Disney for many years, was described in a 2021 New York Times profile as ‘combative’ and a ‘leadership team bedrock’ who had a voice in most major corporate decisions at Disney.” — “TikTok’s leadership is changing at a pivotal time, as the app faces tremendous pressure over its ownership by the Chinese company ByteDance and questions around its data and privacy practices. Montana’s governor recently signed a bill banning TikTok in the state as of next year, and the app has been prohibited at universities, at government agencies and by the military. — “The Biden administration has also pushed for a potential sale of the app to satisfy national security concerns,” and the platform’s chief executive Shou Chew has come under fresh scrutiny in recent weeks over accusations that he misled lawmakers during a combative hearing about where TikTok user data is stored.
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