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Presented by Emergent BioSolutions: Delivered daily, Influence gives you a comprehensive rundown and analysis of all lobby hires and news on K Street. | | | | | |  | | By Caitlin Oprysko | Presented by |  | | | With Daniel Lippman BUSINESS GROUPS CAUGHT FLAT-FOOTED BY CDC MASK GUIDANCE: The Biden administration’s announcement Thursday that fully vaccinated Americans can ditch their masks in most situations is undoubtedly a major milestone in the country’s fight against Covid-19. But trade groups representing the businesses, and a union representing the workers who will now be tasked with enforcing mask-wearing for unvaccinated people, are now scrambling to parse what the guidance means for their members. — Larry Lynch, who as senior vice president of science and industry for the National Restaurant Association handles its Covid operating guidance, said in an interview that the new recommendations may be the industry’s biggest challenge yet. “We don't know how to be the vaccine police,” he said. “CDC didn't do us — didn't do the industry, any big favors,” he added, though “it certainly helped consumers.” — It “creates ambiguity for retailers because it fails to fully align with state and local orders,” Lisa LaBruno, an executive vice president at the Retail Industry Leaders Association — which counts as members retailers like Best Buy, CVS, Lowe’s, Target and Home Depot — said in a statement. In the meantime, LaBruno said retailers will “continue to prioritize the safety of their team members first,” while demanding respect for frontline workers. — Matt Shay , the president and chief executive of the National Retail Federation, said in an interview on MSNBC this morning that “there's an enormous amount of confusion out there” and called the CDC’s mask messaging “muddled,” a sentiment echoed by the United Food and Commercial Workers union, which represents more than one million food and retail employees. — “While we all share the desire to return to a mask-free normal,” UFCW International President Marc Perrone said in a statement, the new CDC guidance is “confusing and fails to consider how it will impact essential workers who face frequent exposure to individuals who are not vaccinated and refuse to wear masks.” He argued the agency “must do more to acknowledge the real and daily challenge these workers and the American people still face.” — It’s a lose-lose situation for business, said Matt Haller, the top lobbyist for the International Franchise Association, who like Lynch said there was no heads-up or coordination from the administration. “It’s obviously welcome news the country is making such great progress on vaccinations and tackling the virus,” he wrote in an email, “but small businesses are already dealing with the challenge of getting employees to come back to work, they now must train their workforce how to parse out who is and isn’t vaccinated or face angry customers wondering why a business might still choose to require a mask to protect their workers and consumers alike.” — Lynch said that the NRA is working to schedule meetings with the CDC in order to get “clarity,” and noted that for now, OSHA “still requires that employers protect employees from exposure” to the virus, which along with state and local requirements supersedes the CDC’s guidance and is one issue he would like addressed. Happy Friday and welcome to PI. Send K Street tips: coprysko@politico.com . And be sure to follow me on Twitter: @caitlinoprysko. | | | | A message from Emergent BioSolutions: At Emergent, we make things you never thought you’d need — until you do. Until you need to counteract an opioid overdose. Or need protection against smallpox, anthrax, cholera, or botulism. And now, we’re in the fight against COVID-19. At Emergent, we take on public health challenges. In facilities, we work to help protect public health. And that’s why We Go. | | | FLYING IN: The National Association of Realtors wrapped up its virtual fly-in this week, which was capped off by a joint appearance from West Virginia Sens. Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito moderated by chief advocacy officer Shannon McGahn. — On the same day she headed to the White House to meet with President Joe Biden on infrastructure, Capito told McGahn that “reports of how divided we are in Congress … a bit exaggerated by the media for dramatic effect,” according to the group, while calling the president “very welcoming to Republicans.” — “I'm bargaining in good faith,” she said, according to the group, adding that “I've been telling the White House everything we’re doing. And it’s [Biden’s] invitation we’re going on. This [opportunity] might give us a chance to do what people expect us to.” — Another sign that virtual fly-ins might yet have staying power? While the annual in-person event typically draws 10,000 members to Washington, more than 30,000 realtors were able to participate in the virtual edition this year, according to spokesperson Patrick Newton. FACEBOOK’S TOP LOBBYIST SWIPES AT OVERSIGHT BOARD: “Facebook has been ordered to clarify rules on political speech in the wake of its ban on former President Donald Trump — and the company's top lobbyist isn't happy,” POLITICO Europe’s Nicholas Vinocur reports. — “In an interview with POLITICO's EU Confidential podcast, Facebook's Vice President for Global Affairs Nick Clegg, criticized the guidance issued by a panel of experts to extend the ban as sending confusing signals on how political speech should be handled on the platform.” — “‘The oversight board said two things which are in tension with each other, to be honest,’ Clegg said. ‘They on the one hand recognized that political speech, particularly in democracies, is a particular form of speech, and as a matter of first principle it's important that people have as unhindered an access as possible to what politicians are saying. On the other hand, they suggested that politicians with significant reach shouldn't be regarded as different in any way to any other user of Facebook with significant reach. So we have to grapple with that,’ he added.” | | | | SUBSCRIBE TO "THE RECAST" TODAY: Power is shifting in Washington and in communities across the country. More people are demanding a seat at the table, insisting that politics is personal and not all policy is equitable. The Recast is a twice-weekly newsletter that explores the changing power dynamics in Washington and breaks down how race and identity are recasting politics and policy in America. Get fresh insights, scoops and dispatches on this crucial intersection from across the country and hear critical new voices that challenge business as usual. Don't miss out, SUBSCRIBE . Thank you to our sponsor, Intel. | | | | | ISPs KICK OFF BATTLE OVER INTERNET PRICING: “President Biden's promise to cut the price of Americans' internet bills has provoked a fierce lobbying campaign by cable and telecom companies to prove that the cost of broadband has already dropped,” Axios’ Margaret Harding McGill reports. “Internet providers are desperate to fend off any move to regulate the prices they charge, while the government is increasingly viewing connectivity as an essential service.” — Much of internet industry lobbyists’ “‘focus has been to point to the products they’ve put in the marketplace, the actions they took during COVID and doing a lot of handwaving to say we did all these things for Americans, we kept you connected,’ a Democratic Hill staffer told Axios. ‘They’re absolutely on edge,’ another aide told Axios. ‘They are concerned at the highest levels over the prospect of rate regulation.’” DEMAND JUSTICE SPLITS WITH DARK MONEY GROUP THAT FUNDS IT: “A leading progressive legal advocacy group is spinning off from the sprawling dark money network that seeded it,” Axios’ Lachlan Markay reports. “Demand Justice's decision to separate from the Sixteen Thirty Fund , a ‘fiscal sponsor’ for scores of largely left-wing organizations, will provide the public with its first detailed look behind the curtain of the influential progressive nonprofit. — “As stand-alone nonprofits, Demand Justice and its 501(c)(3) arm, the Demand Justice Initiative, will have to reveal new information about their structures and finances.” Brian Fallon , the group’s co-founder and executive director said “his group has outgrown the umbrella organization under which it operated for its first three years. ‘Taking this step is a nod to the fact that we plan to exist for the long term and are ready to graduate out of the start-up phase,’ Fallon said in an email.” | | | | A message from Emergent BioSolutions:   | | | | | | — Hamilton Place Strategies has added Cailin Schmeer, Patrice Smith, and Michael Sargent as directors. Schmeer was most recently chief speechwriter for former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and director of public affairs at Treasury; Smith was most recently communications director for Rep. Scott Franklin (R-Fla.) and is a Tim Scott alum and Sargent was most recently director of policy and research at the consultancy Madrus LLC. — Steven Schneider will be CEO at Phone2Action, replacing Jeb Ory, who is moving into a new role as president and chief strategy officer. Schneider was previously chief executive of Logi Analytics. — Glenn Reynolds is joining the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions as vice president of technology policy and government relations. Reynolds was most recently head of government and industry affairs and senior counsel at iconectiv. — Caitlin Oakley has joined Bristol Myers Squibb’s communications team, Morning Pulse reports. Oakley will be a director of corporate communications and media relations for the drug company, after four years as a spokesperson for the Trump administration’s HHS. — Gladys Cisneros is now director and senior adviser for international labor at the White House National Security Council, Playbook reports. She previously was Mexico director for the AFL-CIO’s Solidarity Center. | | | | SUBSCRIBE TO WEST WING PLAYBOOK: Add West Wing Playbook to keep up with the power players, latest policy developments and intriguing whispers percolating inside the West Wing and across the highest levels of the Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today. | | | | | | | | PA Senate Republican Nominee Victory Fund (PA Senate Republican Nominee Fund 2022, NRSC)
NH Senate Republican Nominee Victory Fund (NH Senate Republican Nominee Fund 2022, NRSC)
NV Senate Republican Nominee Victory Fund (NV Senate Republican Nominee Fund 2022, NRSC)
OH Senate Republican Nominee Victory Fund (OH Senate Republican Nominee Fund 2022, NRSC) | | | The Debnam Group 7 (Super PAC)
KMPAC (Leadership PAC: Kathy Denning)
Qubana (PAC)
United Wholesale Mortgage PAC (PAC)
What's Next America (PAC) | | New Lobbying Registrations | | Advanced Policy Consulting, LLC: Portland Cement Association (Pca)
Alva Elliott Partners, LLC: Ryan LLC
Arent Fox LLP: Restoring Integrity To The Oceans, Inc.
Blue Mountain Strategies: Secure Democracy
Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP: University Of North Alabama
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP: Ovintiv Inc.
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP: Ur-Energy USa Inc.
Capitol Alliance Group, Inc: Space Exploration Technologies Corp
Da Vinci Group: Kai Medical Laboratory
Dentons US LLP: Genesis Air Mobility LLC
Efb Advocacy, LLC: National Korean American Service & Education Consortium
Eshares, Inc. D/B/A Carta, Inc.: Eshares, Inc. D/B/A Carta, Inc.
Fgh Holdings, LLC (Formerly Known As The Glover Park Group LLC): Novo Nordisk Inc.
Holland & Knight LLP: Transdigm Group, Inc.
Husch Blackwell Strategies: Missouri State University
Jon Thomas Consulting: Instera Corporation
Kenneth Brown: Roush Cleantech
K&L Gates LLP: Abpro Corporation
K&L Gates LLP: Fusion Industry Association
Larry Puccio, LLC: Tinuum Group, LLC
Linchpin Strategies, LLC: Icivics, Inc.
Meeks, Butera & Israel Pllc: Rebuild The Dream
Mehlman Castagnetti Rosen & Thomas, Inc.: Freedom For All Americans
Merkava Strategies Corporation: Dirshu International
Muroff Law Firm, LLC: Salvation Army Of Eastern Pennsylvania And Delaware
Polaris Government Relations, LLC: Rock Central
Potomac Consulting LLC: Strata Production Company
Rasky Partners, Inc.: Mentor
Schoening Strategies: Sazerac Company, Inc.
The Mcmanus Group: Orchard Therapeutics North America
Timothy A. Glassco Consulting LLC: Francis Energy Obo Cross Oak Group
Van Scoyoc Associates: Whitewater Wireless, Ii, L.P.
Waypoint Consulting, LLC: Texas Research International - Environmental Group | | New Lobbying Terminations | | K&L Gates LLP: American Security Action Fund., Inc.
K&L Gates LLP: Fleet Energy America, Inc. | | | | A message from Emergent BioSolutions: At Emergent, we make things you never thought you’d need — until you do. Until you need to counteract an opioid overdose. Or need protection against smallpox, anthrax, cholera, or botulism ... and even in the fight against global pandemics like COVID-19. At Emergent, we take on public health challenges. For over 20 years, we have produced therapies and vaccines to help protect public health. And that’s why We Go. | | | | | | | Follow us | | | | |  |
