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Presented by Sallie Mae®: Delivered daily, Influence gives you a comprehensive rundown and analysis of all lobby hires and news on K Street. | | | | |  | | By Caitlin Oprysko | | | With Daniel Lippman K STREET MULLS LIFE AFTER MCCONNELL: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s announcement Wednesday that he will step down from his post in party leadership this year has already kicked off a new succession guessing game around Washington. But while Republican influence industry types told PI they weren’t necessarily surprised by McConnell’s decision to step down, K Street is largely still taking stock of what the leadership shakeup means for downtown. — That’s in part because there’s no telling which of the likely front-runners — South Dakota’s John Thune, Texas’ John Cornyn and Wyoming’s John Barrasso — or someone different altogether may end up with the job. Regardless of who the next Senate GOP leader is, “I think it's a huge change,” Ballard Partners’ Brian Ballard said in an interview, hailing the outgoing minority leader as “an institution.” — Any of the “Three Johns” would improve on the contentious relationship between McConnell and Donald Trump should the former president’s reelection bid succeed. “This gets rid of the last sort of uncomfortable relationship between” Republican leaders on the Hill and Trump, the likely GOP presidential nominee, said Ballard. — Ballard also noted that McConnell’s exit from leadership stands to trigger a revamp in the relationship between that office and the growing chunk of the conference more aligned with Trump’s brand of populism — which K Streeters noted would be especially appealing if Republicans win back the Senate in November. — The increased synergy would be a reprieve for K Street, making lobbyists’ jobs “a lot easier, a lot more predictive, a lot smoother,” Ballard argued. “It's a win all the way around.” — While that populist wing of the GOP — which has increasingly clashed with the party’s onetime allies in corporate America, while gumming up the legislative works — has continued to consolidate power in Washington, there’s no indication of a major deepening of the rift between business and Republicans at this point. — “I think that there's still a healthy appetite for small government and conservative principles in the Republican Party,” said Alex Miehls of FTI Consulting, pointing to McConnell’s robust support in the most recent leadership election. — McConnell and his staff “are still going to be around for the majority of this year and I think that provides stability to K Street,” added Miehls, who has worked for both McConnell and former House Speaker John Boehner. And it isn’t like the Three Johns are unknown entities to K Street — plus, each has years of experience working alongside McConnell to draw from. — All the same, “we're entering a potential period of considerable change,” Miehls told PI. McConnell’s “leadership and influence has shaped the legislative landscape for years, but this departure marks a pretty pivotal moment” when taking into account the elections and shifting priorities and dynamics in the Senate that “could influence committee assignments, affect the progress of certain legislation that may be critical to our clients’ interests, but also present new opportunities.” — Firms aren’t resting on their laurels, however. “We'll certainly advise clients to take a fresh look at each of the Threes’ policy priorities,” Forbes Tate Partners’ Ryan Taylor told PI. The firm is also suggesting clients “take a fresh look at their relationships with those three, and look to strengthen or reinforce those existing relationships, and look for new ways to build bridges with them, especially over the course of the next nine months.” Meanwhile, consultants are warning curious clients against putting their chips in one basket or alienating candidates that aren’t likely to leave Congress anytime soon. — “Now more than ever, maintaining strong relationships with a broad spectrum of stakeholders is critical when we think about the potential for the upcoming elections,” added Miehls. TGIF and welcome to PI. Send tips: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter: @caitlinoprysko.
| | A message from Sallie Mae®: Despite continued delays, completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) remains an important step to help make college more accessible and affordable. We must ensure students and families, especially first-generation students and those from undeserved communities, can complete the FAFSA with confidence and connect to free money like scholarships, Pell grants, and other critical federal aid. | | | FIRST IN PI: BGR’s public relations arm has stopped working for controversial Chinese lidar maker Hesai Group, a BGR spokesperson told Daniel. Hesai, which was recently placed on a Pentagon entity list denoting ties to the Chinese military, was also dropped as a client of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld last week after PI reported that several members of Congress were considering banning lobbying firms that represented such Chinese clients from meetings. — The severing of business ties between BGR PR and Hesai happened recently. BGR did not lobby for Hesai, but did work on communications, including hosting POLITICO last fall at its offices for an interview with Hesai CEO David Li soon after Hesai had hired BGR. — Hesai, which did not respond to requests for comment, makes sensors used in self-driving cars and has been the target of a lobbying campaign run by its competitors in the United States. Hesai customers have included robotaxi companies Cruise — which is backed by General Motors — and Zoox, along with automated trucking company Kodiak Robotics. — Two people familiar with the matter told PI that Hesai was not happy with BGR’s performance in getting stories written about the company and made the decision in early January to not renew the contract, which the BGR spokesperson disputed. — APCO Worldwide started working for Hesai in January, according to one of the people familiar with the matter, who were granted anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. A spokesperson for APCO Worldwide didn't respond to a request for comment. — Hesai is challenging its inclusion on the DOD list and said in a press release in early February that it plans to file a lawsuit to get itself removed. “We believe this inclusion is unjust, capricious, and meritless,” Li said in the release, adding that “Hesai products are for civilian use only” and contending that the Pentagon’s move “undermines fair competition and ultimately imperils Americans’ safety by delaying and impeding the adoption of technology that could otherwise reduce the number of vehicle accidents and save lives.” ANNALS OF CAMPAIGN FINANCE: “A Pennsylvania man on Thursday pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges following a 2020 POLITICO investigation into a super PAC that said it was spending millions of dollars in battleground Senate races but didn’t actually exist,” our Zach Montellaro reports. — “The Department of Justice on Thursday announced that Christopher Richardson pleaded guilty to two charges stemming from fabricated transactions from a super PAC — one count of making a ‘false entry in a record’ for the falsities submitted to the FEC, and one count of ‘access device fraud’ for credit card fraud. He will be sentenced in June and faces a maximum of 20 years in prison for the former charge and 10 years for the latter, but such a severe sentence is unlikely.” — “A separate release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Washington noted that the ‘quick fundraising and spending attracted media scrutiny, questioning the veracity of the FEC reports.’” — “POLITICO reported nearly four years ago on Americans for Progressive Action USA, a super PAC that presented itself as a new, major player in elections. In filings to the Federal Election Commission, the organization said it raised over $4.8 million from a small handful of unknown donors in its first quarterly campaign filing. Then it told the FEC in late April 2020 that it was imminently dropping millions on advertising in key Senate races across the country.” — “Such a move would have been a big splash in the world of high-dollar political spending from an entirely unknown organization. But POLITICO’s reporting unveiled that AFPA and its millions in spending were, in fact, a phantom.” — “A long list of inconsistencies — like a seemingly fabricated list of vendors creating a multi-million advertising spree and untraceable donors — called into question the validity of the group. Richardson ‘used fictitious names’ for the super PAC’s officers to create the organization, and the ‘non-existent’ donations were ‘from several fictitious individuals,’ according to the press release from the Department of Justice.” CRYPTO TO THE RESCUE: “In the final days of a hard-fought Democratic primary for an open congressional seat in Texas, a wave of glowing TV ads began running in Dallas in support of state Rep. Julie Johnson, one of the top two candidates,” the Daily Beast’s Sam Brodey writes. — “‘Democrat Julie Johnson is a Texas trailblazer,’ the ad’s narrator said, touting Johnson’s record on gun reform and abortion rights, her endorsements from leaders like Beto O’Rourke, and the possibility she could be the first openly gay member of Congress from the South.” — “The ad was paid for by Protect Progress — a super PAC funded by cryptocurrency industry figures — which spent nearly $1 million to air the spot this week ahead of the primary election on Tuesday, according to federal campaign finance records. The late investment could prove critical for Johnson, who is locked in a close battle for first place in the primary with Brian Williams, a prominent Dallas trauma surgeon.” — “But the super PAC’s move to boost Johnson was hardly a coincidence. It came after Johnson added language to her campaign website that signaled her support for cryptocurrency and her desire to pass legislation in Congress that would spur ‘crypto innovation.’”
| | | | A message from Sallie Mae®:   | | | | | — Alanna Temme has launched LMH Strategic Solutions, a boutique health care government affairs firm. She was previously an executive vice president at The McManus Group. — Touchdown Strategies has hired Patrick DiMarchi as a research assistant. DiMarchi was previously a freelance writer at DataAnnotation. — Dane Bahnsen is now a director at Boundary Stone Partners. He recently worked on government relations and market development for Hover Energy. — Beau Rothschild has joined Porter Wright Morris & Arthur as a principal. He was previously a principal at Chamber Hill Strategies. — Claudia Flores and Elyse Hicks have joined DailyPay as senior manager of public policy and government relations manager of East Coast major markets, respectively. Flores previously worked at the Center for American Progress and Hicks was previously consumer policy counsel at Americans for Financial Reform. — The ERISA Industry Committee has named Tom Christina as executive director of the ERIC Legal Center and promoted Christina Strogis to director of health policy for federal affairs. Christina was previously of counsel at Ogletree Deakins. — ProgressNow has hired Michael McGovern as senior director of messaging and research and Maya Castillo as managing director, West Wing Playbook reports. — Nick Berning and Gina Coplon-Newfield are joining Sunstone Strategies in newly created managing director positions. Berning previously led the communications team at the Green New Deal Network and Coplon-Newfield previously was chief of staff for the Office of Policy in the Department of Energy. — Building Back Together has promoted Blake Goodman to communications director and added Paydon Miller as director of strategic initiatives. Goodman previously was national press secretary and Miller most recently was senior director of comms at We the Action, and is a Young Invincibles and Enroll America alum. — Eric Felipe-Barkin is joining the digital agency VNCS to launch estudio VNCS, a digital-first, English- and Spanish-language creative studio and media buying team in house. Felipe-Barkin is a political admaker/filmmaker who previously was freelancing as principal at Filmerico. The estudio VNCS team will also include Abby Loisel and Candida Alfaro. — Mike Berry is joining the America First Policy Institute as executive director of its Center for Litigation. He previously was vice president of external affairs and senior counsel at First Liberty. — Josh Kagan is now a special counsel at Kelley Drye & Warren’s international trade practice group. He previously was assistant USTR for labor affairs. — Osiris Morel is now senior manager for federal and state lobbying at Mark Anthony Brands. She most recently did federal and state government relations at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck. — Will Anderson is joining the Business Roundtable as vice president of corporate governance, per Morning Money. He was previously staff director for the House Financial Services capital markets subcommittee. Mike Lucia, who previously served as the committee's capital markets counsel, will take over the job. — Peter Hall has joined Beacon Global Strategies as a senior vice president. Hall was previously senior director for growth at Peraton. — Chris Senn is joining the transportation team at Holland & Knight’s public policy and regulation group. He was previously counsel for Republicans on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s Aviation Subcommittee. — Melissa Burroughs has joined CareQuest Institute for Oral Health as public policy director. Previously, she was director of strategic partnerships at Families USA.
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| | A message from Sallie Mae®: As a responsible private lender, Sallie Mae advises students and families to explore free money like scholarships and grants before borrowing. The gateway to much of this aid is through the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®), which provides access to more than $100 billion in scholarships, grants, state-based, and federal financial aid. Recent delays and complications accessing the form point to broader issues with the federal financing system for higher education, but it’s still critical that students and families complete the FAFSA to maximize the free money available. See how Sallie Mae helps students and families navigate and complete the new FAFSA. | | | | | New Lobbying REGISTRATIONS | | Bgr Government Affairs: Alkermes, Inc. Bgr Government Affairs: Analytical Ai Bgr Government Affairs: E.J. Saad Law Firm Bgr Government Affairs: Major Cities Chiefs Association Bgr Government Affairs: Undiagnosed Disease Network Foundation Colton Street Group: Sesac Rights Management, Inc. Colton Street Group: Teamhealth Colton Street Group: The Broadway League Cornerstone Government Affairs, Inc.: Big Brothers Big Sisters Of America Dinino Associates, LLC: Waverly Group Obo Troika Solutions Fgs Global (US) LLC (Fka Fgh Holdings LLC): Ripple Labs Inc. Grayrobinson Pa: Florida Seating Inc. Greenberg Traurig, LLP: Berlin Rosen For The Benefit Of The Pew Charitable Trusts Lsn Partners, LLC: Miami Dade County Maggi Lazarus: O'Rourke And Associates, LLC (On Behalf Of Minicap Coalition) Mercury Public Affairs, LLC: City Of Rock Island O'Rourke And Associates, LLC: Minicap Coalition Sc Partners LLC: Cookers Skyline Capitol LLC: Intergalactic Skyline Capitol LLC: The Tunnel To Towers Foundation The Blc Group, LLC: Bob Ho Velocity Government Relations, LLC: Earth Observant Inc. Velocity Government Relations, LLC: Ensemble Government Services, LLC
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