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Presented by Aon: Delivered daily, Influence gives you a comprehensive rundown and analysis of all lobby hires and news on K Street. | | | | | |  | | By Theodoric Meyer | Presented by Aon | With Daniel Lippman PROGRAMMING NOTE: POLITICO Influence will not publish on Monday, May 31. We'll be back on our normal schedule on Tuesday, June 1. TAFT RETURNS TO WASHINGTON: The law firm Taft Stettinius & Hollister has deep ties to Washington. Former Senate Majority Leader Robert Taft (R-Ohio) once practiced law at the firm. So did his son, former Sen. Robert Taft Jr. (R-Ohio), who headed the firm’s Washington office after he lost reelection in 1976. Now the law firm has reopened its Washington office decades after it shuttered, and it's building out a lobbying practice, Taft Advisors, that will operate alongside the legal one. — Taft hired several lobbyists away from Ice Miller to start its lobbying shop, and Taft has already registered to lobby for more than a dozen clients, including Facebook, the Koch companies and American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers. “We brought all of our clients from Ice Miller with us and we’ve added a few new ones already at Taft,” said Graham Hill, a lobbyist in the Washington office. — Lacy Johnson , a Taft partner who’s splitting his time between Indianapolis and Washington, is running the office, though he doesn’t plan to lobby. The firm is looking to hire more lobbyists, as well as federal contracts and regulatory lawyers, potentially poaching a whole practice group. “I think our managing partner [Robert Hicks] has in mind this office ultimately being very engaged on energy and environmental issues,” as well as health care, said Martin Edwards, one of the lobbyists who came over from Ice Miller. Good afternoon and welcome to PI. I’m filling in for Caitlin, who’ll be back on Tuesday. Tips, gossip, complaints: tmeyer@politico.com. You can also follow me on Twitter: @theodoricmeyer. | | | | A message from Aon: Traditional risk management doesn’t adequately address long-tail risks. Aon is focused on helping clients prevent, respond to and recover from these types of risks in a way that has previously been unmanageable. | | | NEW BUSINESS: Apex Clean Energy has hired FTI Consulting to lobby on tax, energy and environmental issues as President Joe Biden presses Congress to invest in renewable energy as part of his infrastructure plan. Apex also hired Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck earlier this month to lobby on its behalf and added Putala Strategies’ Chris Putala, a former Biden aide, to its lineup of outside lobbyists in January. — Qualcomm, meanwhile, has hired the Tiber Creek Group to lobby on tax issues. And Pfizer has added Hazen Marshall and Monica Popp of Marshall & Popp to its extensive lineup of outside lobbyists. BIDEN ADMINISTRATION WON'T RENEW SYRIA WAIVER: "The Biden administration has decided it will not renew a waiver that allowed a politically connected U.S. oil company to operate in northeast Syria under President Donald Trump’s pledge to 'keep the oil' produced in the region, according to a U.S. official familiar with the decision," The Associated Press' Aamer Madhani reports. — "Treasury Department rules prohibit most U.S. companies from doing business in Syria. The waiver for Delta Crescent Energy was issued in April 2020, months after Trump announced that he wanted to keep some U.S. troops in the oil-rich region to maintain control of the oil profits. Trump’s 'keep the oil' message was no longer U.S. foreign policy under the Biden administration, and using the U.S. military to facilitate Syrian oil production was deemed inappropriate, according to the official, who was not authorized to publicly discuss the decision and spoke on condition of anonymity." | | | | 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. | | | | | IF YOU MISSED IT LAST NIGHT: “The Biden administration defended a proposed ConocoPhillips oil development in Alaska on Wednesday, backing the project pushed by Alaskan Sen. Lisa Murkowski , the centrist lawmaker the administration has wooed as a potential swing vote,” POLITICO’s Anthony Adragna and Ben Lefebvre report. — “The decision by the Interior Department to defend in court the Trump administration’s October 2020 decision and allow the Willow project in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska to proceed comes despite Interior Secretary Deb Haaland's opposition to the project last year when she was a member of Congress.” Murkowski and Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) “discussed the project during an Oval Office meeting with Biden on Monday. Sullivan said he left behind information on the project and Biden promised to get back to him shortly.” | | | |   | | | | | | — The Chinese tech giant Tencent has hired Danny Marti as head of global policy. He was previously RELX’s head of global government affairs and is also an Obama administration alum. — Locust Street Group has added three new senior directors: Bill Jaffee, Meghan Graf and Nobar Golhar. Jaffee was previously press secretary to Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.). Graf previously worked for DDC Public Affairs, and Gohlar previously worked for the consulting firm Challenger. — The Mortgage Bankers Association has promoted Alden Knowlton to associate vice president of legislative affairs and Rachel Kelley as associate vice president of political affairs. Knowlton will focus on lobbying House Democrats. Kelley previously ran her own consulting firm and served as finance director for the 2020 Republican National Convention in Charlotte, N.C. | | | | 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. | | | | | | | | Padilla Harder Victory Fund (Sen. Alex Padilla, Rep. Josh Harder)
KS-NM Victory Fund 2022 (Reps. Sharice Davids and Teresa Leger Fernandez) | | | None | | New Lobbying Registrations | | BGR Government Affairs: Fortinet, Inc.
BGR Government Affairs: Oak Street Health
BGR Government Affairs: Radiology Partners
BGR Government Affairs: Syrian Institute For Progress
BGR Government Affairs: US Radiology Specialists
Earl F Hilliard: The Birmingham Water Works
FTI Government Affairs: Apex Clean Energy
Hogan Lovells US LLP: Populus Financial Group
Ice Miller LLP: StoneMor, Inc.
LSN Partners, LLC: American Mask Manufacturer's Association (AMMA)
MG Housing Strategies LLC: The Winn Companies
Morrissey Strategic Partners, LLC: National Newspaper Association
Polsinelli PC: Ficohsa Express, LLC
Polsinelli PC: Ficohsa Express Louisiana, LLC
Polsinelli PC: Ficohsa Express New Jersey, LLC
Polsinelli PC: Ficohsa Express New York, LLC
Polsinelli PC: Ficohsa Express North Carolina, LLC
Polsinelli PC: Ficohsa Express Virgina, [sic] LLC
Reston Strategy Group, LLC: Hawkeye 360
Revere Federal Strategies: Mercury Systems Inc.
Rich Feuer Anderson: The Global Atlantic Financial Group LLC
Smith Dawson & Andrews: Aurora University
Smith Dawson & Andrews: Elion Partners
The Conafay Group, LLC: The Coalition for the Advancement of Research and Innovation in Trauma (CARIT)
Tiber Creek Group: Qualcomm, Inc.
Williamson Law + Policy PLLC: Bayotech, Inc. | | New Lobbying Terminations | | BGR Government Affairs: Pebble Limited Partnership
BGR Government Affairs: Privinvest Holding SAL
Earth & Water Group: Sabin Metal Corp.
Government Relations Group, LLC: Lerner and Rowe Business Claims
Jack Ferguson Assoc., Inc.: Graphite One (Alaska) Inc.
Riverside Strategic Solutions, LLC: Spirit Aerosystems, Inc
The Estopinan Group, LLC: Dr Reginald Boulos
The Smith-Free Group, LLC: Regions Financial Corporation
U.S. Government Relations Intl.: IIBEC The International Institute of Building Enclosure Consultants | | | | A message from Aon: The combination of Aon with Willis Towers Watson represents a bold step that will enable our colleagues to establish a new standard of client leadership and innovation to help manage their risk in more volatile and interconnected world. | | | | | | | Follow us | | | | |  |
