Holocaust restitution group hires Mayer Brown

Politico

25-06-2025

With Daniel Lippman
JEWISH RESTITUTION GROUP LOBBYING ON LEGAL PROTECTIONS: A global organization advocating for the return of private property and compensation for Holocaust survivors and their families has enlisted Mayer Brown to lobby on a new bill aimed at helping Jewish families recover artwork looted by Nazis.
— Marc Cohen, Charley Lanter and John Mirvish began working last week on behalf of the World Jewish Restitution Organization on supplementing the 2016 Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery Act, according to a disclosure filing. That law established a federal statute of limitations starting at the time of discovery of Nazi-confiscated artwork and called for restitution claims to be decided on the merits rather than procedural or technical grounds.
— But critics have accused governments and institutions like museums of exploiting loopholes in those enhanced protections and of trying to run out the clock by stonewalling and employing various legal tactics to avoid turning over stolen art.
— In May, Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and six other bipartisan lawmakers introduced legislation that would eliminate the 2026 expiration date for the HEAR Act and further strengthen its legal protections and access to recourse for victims.
— 'To fully realize the HEAR Act's promise and uphold the United States' enduring commitment to Holocaust justice, WJRO calls on Congress to act decisively to strengthen the HEAR Act,' the group said in a statement last month.
MORE NEW BUSINESS: TechNet, which represents more than 100 tech startups and Silicon Valley heavyweights including Apple, Google, Intuit, Meta and Amazon, has retained Farragut Partners to lobby on federal data privacy legislation, according to a newly filed disclosure.
— The team of lobbyists working on the account includes former Rep. Ed Whitfield, a longtime member of the House Energy & Commerce Committee before his retirement in 2016, and Dylan Moore, a former deputy chief of staff to Whitfield's fellow E&C alum Larry Bucshon.
— TechNet has just three other outside firms on retainer, all of which were brought on in the past three years: Avoq, the Smith-Free Group and Crossroads Strategies.
— Meanwhile the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, which represents pharmaceutical middlemen, hired Continental Strategy this week, as PBMs' business practices face a multipronged threat from the Trump administration and GOP megabill. Tim Costa, a former chief of staff to Rep. Dan Meuser (R-Pa.), and Chris Miles, a former deputy chief of staff to former Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.), are working on the account.
— The House and Senate versions of the reconciliation bill both contain provisions targeting PBM practices like spread pricing in Medicaid. President Donald Trump's April executive order called for tying U.S. drug prices to the cost of those medicines overseas and for establishing a mechanism for patients to purchase drugs directly from manufacturers, cutting out middlemen like pharmacy benefit managers.
Happy Wednesday and welcome to PI. We hope you're managing to stay cool out there. Got any interesting reconciliation lobbying scoops? Drop me a line: Add me on Signal or email me at [e-mail]. And be sure to follow me on X: @caitlinoprysko.
ULTRA-PROCESSED FOOD FIGHT: 'Food industry groups frustrated over being left out of planning for the Make America Healthy Again report are angling to play a bigger role in shaping a looming Trump administration move that could have a major impact on nutrition policy,' per POLITICO's Rachel Shin.
— At a recent White House meeting for ag groups to air their grievances with the MAHA report, the National Pork Producers Council, the Meat Institute and the International Dairy Foods Association 'highlighted their desire to be involved as the FDA prepares a definition for 'ultra-processed foods,'' which could ultimately 'shape which products are eligible for school lunch menus or available to buy with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.'
— In particular, 'meat and dairy groups want officials to distinguish between nutrient-dense processed options and empty calorie foods, which would allow their products to remain accessible in federal programs.'
— 'MAHA leaders have made ultra-processed foods — which often contain artificial ingredients like preservatives, emulsifiers and sweeteners — a primary focus of their movement to improve America's public health. An ultra-processed foods definition would likely serve as the foundation for future labelling efforts and regulations aiming to minimize consumption of those products, especially by children.'
RE: THE RUMORS OF FEDSOC'S DEMISE: 'President Donald Trump said the Federalist Society gave him 'bad advice' on judicial nominations. He's still appointing their members to the federal bench anyway,' POLITICO's Hailey Fuchs and Daniel Barnes write.
— The Senate Judiciary Committee this week will consider a slate of nominees 'for seats on the federal bench, including Emil Bove, Trump's No. 3 at the Justice Department and an outsider to some mainstream conservative legal circles.'
— 'Bove's nomination has divided the right over whether Trump was eschewing the traditional conservative Federalist Society pipeline in favor of his own brand of loyalist nominees. But even amid a schism between Trump and the Federalist Society, the president's orbit has continued to embrace lawyers and jurists who have ties to the most influential conservative legal group.'
— Case in point: Following today's hearing with Bove, Senate Judiciary 'will also vote Thursday on a different slate of judicial nominees, all five of whom are members of the Federalist Society, according to their disclosures and the Federalist Society website.'
FLYING IN: Nearly 500 national construction and business leaders are in town this week for a fly-in organized by the Associated Builders and Contractors. The trade group heard from Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) at a breakfast during its summit and was slated to huddle with hundreds of offices across the Capitol, including member-level meetings with House Speaker Mike Johnson, House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, House Education and Workforce Chair Tim Walberg (R-Mich.) and House Rules Committee Chair Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.).
— ABC's members are pushing legislation that would scrap project labor agreements for federal construction contracts and will of course lobby for passage of the reconciliation bill in addition to workforce development incentives and visa reforms.
— Executives from top fintechs were also in town today for a fly-in and CEO summit hosted by the Financial Technology Association. House Financial Services Chair French Hill (R-Ark.) addressed the summit earlier in the day before execs headed off to meetings on the Hill and with officials from OMB, the White House and Treasury, as well as acting FDIC Chair Travis Hill and acting OCC Comptroller Rodney Hood. They discussed fintech policy issues such as payments modernization, AI, open banking, bank-fintech partnerships, and access to capital for small businesses.
LAYOFFS HIT EEI: 'The Edison Electric Institute laid off a number of employees Tuesday ahead of its new CEO taking charge,' E&E News' Tim Cama reports. EEI spokesperson Brian Reil said that the trade group has 'strategically restructured our team to position EEI for the future and to ensure that we can continue meeting the evolving needs of our customers,' but declined to reveal how many positions were being eliminated.
— The staff cuts came a week before Drew Maloney moves over from his post atop the American Investment Council to serve as the next president and CEO of the investor-owned utilities group. They cap off a turbulent couple of years for EEI that saw Dan Brouilette, the former Trump Energy secretary who took over following the retirement of longtime EEI head Tom Kuhn, ousted after less than a year on the job.
SPOTTED at Cafe Fiorello for a fundraiser that raised six figures for Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), per a tipster: Lyndon Boozer and DeAna Dow of Capitol Counsel, Fred Humphries of Microsoft, Steve Hartell of Amazon, Laurie Knight of the National Beer Wholesalers Association, James Assey of NCTA, Mignon Clyburn of MLC Strategies, Shashrina Thomas of Reynolds American, Ashley Hayes of Charter Communications, Katreice Banks of AT&T, Lance Mangum of FedEx, Jamie Gillespie of Fox Corp., Erik Huey of Platinum Advisors, Gerry Harrington of Capitol City Group, Larry Duncan of Monument Advocacy, Yebbie Watkins of Clyburn's office and G.K. Butterfield of McGuireWoods.
Jobs report
— Robert Shapiro is now a partner in Dechert's financial services practice group. He was previously assistant chief counsel in the division of investment management at the SEC.
— Rachel Thomas is now senior director of corporate communications at Flagship Pioneering. She most recently was director of strategic communications for implementation in the Biden White House.
— Keighle Joyce is joining Morrison Foerster as of counsel in the congressional investigations group. She most recently was senior counsel in the Justice Department's Office of Legislative Affairs, and is a House Homeland Security alum.
— Ellen Hamilton will be executive director for the California Democratic delegation. She previously was chief of staff for Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.).
— Na'ilah Amaru is now senior director of mobilization and engagement at the League of Women Voters. She was previously pursuing a PhD in political science at the CUNY Graduate Center.
— Erica Goldman is joining Prologue as head of insights and analysis. She was most recently managing director and insights lead at Purple Strategies.
— Oliver McPherson-Smith is now the America First Policy Institute's vice chair for energy and environment. He was previously the White House's National Energy Dominance Council executive director (he left the position after less than a month; click here to read more).
— Alan Davidson is now head of government affairs at Databricks, a data intelligence platform. He most recently served as assistant secretary of commerce and administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, and is a Mozilla alum.
— John Mitchell is now senior manager of public policy at Workday, leading its federal advocacy on AI and data privacy. He was previously a director at the Consumer Technology Association.
— The Berkman Klein Center has a new round of hires: Alex Pascal is now its executive director by way of the White House Domestic Policy Council, where he co-led policy initiatives on AI and social media platforms. Meg Marco is being permanently appointed as senior director of BKC's Applied Social Media Lab. She's a WIRED, ProPublica and Wall Street Journal alum.
New Joint Fundraisers
TEAM BRAUN (Sen. Mike Braun, Freedom & Opportunity Fund, Indiana Republican State Committee, Inc., Hoosiers for Opportunity Prosperity and Enterprise Victory Fund)
New PACs
POWERBACK (PAC)Win Back Our Country PAC (Hybrid PAC)
New Lobbying REGISTRATIONS
Alston & Bird LLP: Claritev
Ballard Partners: Banco Btg Pactual S.A. - Cayman Branch
Ballard Partners: Unet Production, LLC
Farragut Partners LLP: Fullscript
Farragut Partners LLP: Technet The Voice Of Innovation Economy
Grayrobinson Pa: Texas Health Care Association
K&L Gates, LLP: Highland Copper Company Inc.
Mayer Brown LLP: World Jewish Restitution Organization
Mission Strategies LLC (Energy): Evergrow Inc.
Vnf Solutions, LLC: American Water Works Association
Vnf Solutions, LLC: Cherry Street Energy
New Lobbying Terminations
National American Indian Housing Council: National American Indian Housing Council
The Picard Group, LLC: Esperanza Land, LLC