Trump DOE alum signs California utility company

Politico

2 days ago

With help from Daniel Lippman
A note to our readers: Starting on Thursday, your longtime author Caitlin will pair with reporter Daniel Barnes to write Influence. Daniel covers Big Law and lobbying and joined us from NBC News in March. This is important: If you've got a tip or feedback going forward, please be sure to email Caitlin ([e-mail]) and Daniel ([e-mail]) both.
NEW BUSINESS: Pacific Gas & Electric Company has retained a former Energy Department official who worked in the first Trump administration to lobby on funding issues, according to a disclosure filing. Mountain View Partners' Dwayne Bolton served as a congressional liaison at DOE during President Donald Trump's first term before joining the department's Office of Economic Impact and Diversity and Office of Environmental Management.
— Bolton began lobbying for the California utility giant in June at the height of negotiations over the phaseout of clean energy tax credits in the GOP megabill and uncertainty about the fate of financing secured during the Biden administration.
— Days before Trump took office, the Energy Department finalized a $15 billion loan guarantee for PG&E for investments in hydropower and battery storage projects as well as grid improvements. It was the largest loan ever for DOE's Loan Programs Office. Despite the guarantee, PG&E asked California regulators to approve a rate hike earlier this year due in part to 'uncertainty' about its fate.
— Meanwhile, a group of pilots that is pushing to raise the mandatory retirement age brought on a new outside lobbying firm last month ahead of a big win for the cause. Let Experienced Pilots Fly retained Florida lobbyist Ward Blakely of Blue Tusk Communications last month to advocate for bumping the mandatory retirement age for commercial pilots from 65 to 67 in an effort to address pilot shortages.
— The week after Blakely began working on behalf of the group, a bipartisan group of senators — including Majority Leader John Thune and former astronaut Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) — urged the Trump administration to take a more active role at the International Civil Aviation Organization. That group sets safety standards for the global aviation industry and has broached the idea of raising the recommended pilot retirement age.
— A few days later, Trump nominated retired Delta Air Lines pilot Jeffrey Anderson — who previously consulted for the pilots group — to fill the vacant post of U.S. ambassador to the ICAO. The choice of Anderson, however, quickly drew a rebuke from the Air Line Pilots Association.
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COULD LITIGATION TAX LIVE TO SEE ANOTHER DAY?: Our friends at Inside Congress report this morning that there are rumblings that business groups, conservative advocates and major insurers are making moves to lobby Hill Republicans around reviving the push to impose a tax on litigation financing.
— A proposal championed by Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.) would levy a 40.8 percent tax on the profits from litigation funding agreements that supporters say could prevent more frivolous lawsuits. It fell out of the GOP's party-line policy package earlier this year for not complying with Senate rules.
— 'We'll see if they can make changes to pass muster with the parliamentarian this next go-around or if they'll have to search for another vehicle to get this fix past the finish line,' John Shelton, policy director for Advancing American Freedom — the nonprofit group founded by former Vice President Mike Pence — told Benjamin Guggenheim.
— The litigation funding industry will have more lobbying firepower from the get-go if the issue is revived, having brought on three new outside lobbying firms during the reconciliation fight.
— They include OnMessage Public Strategies, the lobbying arm of the GOP consulting firm that has been paid tens of millions of dollars by Tillis' campaigns during his congressional career, per FEC records; Checkmate Government Relations, which is led by the brother of Rep. Addison McDowell (R-N.C.); and Red Maple Consulting, which is run by the former chief of staff to Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.).
WHERE DO YOU DRAW THE LINE: Common Cause, 'the nation's most prominent anti-gerrymandering organization,' has found itself in the middle of 'a tense internal debate over whether to modify its position opposing all partisan redistricting, a remarkable development in response to a gerrymandering war that has broken out across the nation,' according to The Christian Science Monitor's Cameron Joseph.
— 'It's a sign that after two decades of hard-won progress against partisan line-drawing, the movement is facing an existential crisis. … On Monday night, after a meeting by the organization's national governing board, the group's president and CEO Virginia Kase Solomón emailed organization leaders asking them not to make any new statements on gerrymandering until the board issued further guidance, which she said would come later this week.'
— 'The request to stand down comes as Democrats in California are pushing to temporarily suspend the state's independent redistricting commission to allow them to draw five or more new Democratic-leaning House districts.' The move, which 'would undo anti-gerrymandering reforms that Common Cause helped make law in 2010,' comes as GOP lawmakers in Texas and other red states mull their own redistricting plans ahead of the midterms.
ANNALS OF BIG FIRE: 'Fire retardant, the reddish liquid dropped from planes to slow spreading flames, has become an indispensable tool for saving lives and property from more frequent and intense wildfires. But the entire supply of the product in the United States is controlled by a single company,' The New York Times' Chris Hamby reports, thanks to 'an extensive lobbying and public-relations campaign' carried out by that company, Perimeter Solutions.
— The push has 'undercut would-be rivals, even as government officials have voiced concerns about the risks of relying on one source for such an essential product' and allowed Perimeter to leverage its 'dominance to boost profits at the expense of federal and state government agencies — its biggest customers.'
CBA ADDS 3: The Consumer Brands Association has added Lauren Berkowitz as director and legal counsel, Susanna Blair as senior director of regulatory and technical affairs and Will Grassle as packaging and sustainability policy manager. Berkowitz spent the past 16 years at FDA, most recently as a policy analyst and regulatory counsel in the Office of Foods & Veterinary Medicine and Center for Food Safety & Applied Nutrition.
— Blair most recently worked in EPA's Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, and Grassle was most recently an associate for circularity policies and programs at the Product Stewardship Institute.
INTEL IN THE HOT SEAT: 'U.S. Republican Senator Tom Cotton sent a letter to Intel's board chair on Wednesday with questions about the chipmaker's new CEO Lip-Bu Tan's ties to Chinese firms and a recent criminal case involving his former company Cadence Design,' per Reuters' Max Cherney.
— 'Writing to 'express concern about the security and integrity of Intel's operations and its potential impact on U.S. national security,' Cotton asked in the letter to Intel chairperson Frank Yeary whether the company's board was aware of the subpoenas sent to Cadence during Tan's time there as CEO before Intel hired him.'
— 'He also asked whether Intel's board required Tan to divest from chip firms in China linked to the Chinese military or Communist Party, and if Tan adequately disclosed other ties to Chinese companies due to Intel's involvement in the Secure Enclave program, an initiative designed under the Biden administration to ensure a secure supply of microelectronics for defense.'
Jobs report
— Jena McNeill has joined The Ingram Group doing Kentucky and federal affairs. She was most recently director of government and legislative relations at East Kentucky Power Cooperative and is a Joni Ernst and Ron Johnson alum.
— Former FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel is joining the MIT Media Lab as its executive director.
— James Mazzarella is joining the Atlantic Council's Freedom and Prosperity Center as a senior fellow. He previously was a senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and is a National Security Council alum.
— Michael Qian is now a partner in the Supreme Court and appellate practice at Haynes Boone. He most recently served as counselor to the attorney general at the Department of Justice.
— Kristi Johnson is now comms director for Jordan Wood's Senate campaign in Maine. She previously was rapid response director for the Kamala Harris campaign in Wisconsin and was national press secretary at NextGen America.
— RXN has promoted Emma O'Rourke to director of public affairs and Taylor Kotula to chief of staff.
— Arun Venkataraman is now a partner at Covington & Burling LLP. He most recently was assistant secretary of commerce for global markets and director general of the U.S. and foreign commercial service at the International Trade Administration.
— Zunera Mazhar is now vice president of policy at The Digital Chamber. She previously was deputy director and deputy chief innovation officer at FDIC.
— Ben Cassidy has launched Fifth Wave, a government affairs and strategic advisory firm focused on conservation, infrastructure and public-private partnerships. He most recently was chief policy officer at Nature Is Nonpartisan.
— Lily Israel has been promoted to be senior legislative analyst at GrayRobinson.
New Joint Fundraisers
Burchett Luna Victory Fund (Reps. Tim Burchett, Anna Paulina Luna)
New PACs
Allina Venture Inc (Hybrid PAC)
Chaos Industries Inc Political Action Committee (CHAOS PAC) (PAC)
Get's It Done PAC (Super PAC)
Valley-Westside United PAC (Super PAC)
New Lobbying REGISTRATIONS
Corcoran & Associates, Inc. Dba Corcoran Partners: Impsa International, Inc
Corrigan & USsery LLC: Solstice Advanced Materials US, Inc
Hahn Lobbying And Consulting, LLC: Veterans Guardian
Hb Strategies: Wp Construction And Mining
Mercury Public Affairs, LLC: Bank Of America Corporation
Mercury Public Affairs, LLC: Lam Research Corporation
Rich Feuer Anderson: National Installment Lenders Association
Shw Partners LLC: Divergent Technologies, Inc.
Sl Strategies, LLC: University Of Texas Medical Branch
Telegraph Avenue Advisors: Specialty Equipment Market Association
The Mcmanus Group: Royal Biologics
Zero Mile Strategies: C3.Ai, Inc.
Zero Mile Strategies: Skysafe
New Lobbying Terminations
Aduston Consulting, LLC: Rai Services Company
Ameliorate LLC: Jewish Family & Children'S Services
Ballentine Strategies: Electronic Payments Coalition
C6 Strategies, LLC (Fka Ms. Dana W. Hudson): Aeon Industrial
C6 Strategies, LLC (Fka Ms. Dana W. Hudson): Scola
Corrigan & USsery LLC: Honeywell International, Inc.
Gallant Government & Law Group, LLC: Klein Law Group Pllc On Behalf Of Highline
Lantheus Holdings, Inc.: Lantheus Holdings, Inc.
One Action: One Action
Perspective Strategies: Brightstar Care