A big lobbying merger

Politico

20 hours ago

With help from Daniel Lippman
FIRST IN PI — BAKER DONELSON, DASCHLE GROUP MERGE LOBBYING PRACTICES: The public policy practice at Baker Donelson is joining forces with the Daschle Group to form DB3, which stands for 'Daschle/Baker third generation.'
— Daschle Group, which was started in 2014 by former Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle, has operated as an affiliate of Baker Donelson since it opened. But Baker Donelson had maintained its own government relations and public policy arm launched by the late Senate Republican Leader Howard Baker in 1985.
— Nathan Daschle, who served as president and COO of the Daschle Group, will serve as CEO of the combined firm, with the elder Daschle, his father, serving as DB3's chair. The merger will bring 20 staffers from between the two firms under the same newly bipartisan umbrella to continue providing a full suite of lobbying and strategic advisory services to the firms' clients, which include Comcast, Toyota, Embraer, General Dynamics, Grindr and the Japanese government.
— 'We kind of realized that this is one of those cases where the whole will be greater than the sum of the parts, and that we could have some synergies and really help each other out if we merge together into one firm,' Nathan Daschle told PI.
PPHC ACQUIRES BUSH'S FIRM: Public Policy Holding Company, a partnership of nearly a dozen D.C. and state lobbying, public affairs and strategic communications firms, is acquiring Pine Cove Capital, a Texas consultancy led by George P. Bush, the former state land commissioner and grandson of former President George H.W. Bush. Following completion of the acquisition, the firm will change its name to Pine Cove Strategies.
— PPHC was set up in 2020 by D.C. lobbying firms Crossroads Strategies, Forbes Tate Partners and Alpine Group, public affairs shop Seven Letter and Boston-based O'Neill and Associates.
— The partnership — under which the firms operate separately under their existing brands, but their members have an equity stake in the holding company — followed a period in which K Street shops were being snapped up by global media and PR conglomerates. It remains a unique business arrangement amid more recent private equity-fueled consolidation in Washington's influence industry.
— The holding company went public on the London Stock Exchange the year after its launch, and it has since added a handful of other state-focused firms including KP Public Affairs and Lucas Public Affairs in California, the 50-state firm MultiState Associates and Dallas-based TrailRunner International. The addition of Austin-based Pine Cove will broaden PPHC's capabilities in Texas as well as extend its expertise in the energy sector.
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HOSPITALS' HOPES FOR STAVING OFF CUTS: 'Hospitals lost big in President Donald Trump's megabill, but they still have plenty of time to fight back,' POLITICO's Robert King, Amanda Chu and David Lim report.
— 'The One Big Beautiful Bill Act that Trump signed on the 4th of July will take a $340 billion bite out of hospital budgets over a decade to pay for tax cuts and other Trump priorities. Then again, maybe it won't.'
— 'That's because Congress delayed implementation of the most devastating of those cuts till 2028, and hospitals, their armies of lobbyists and many allies on Capitol Hill are already gearing up to use the next two and a half years to persuade lawmakers to rescind them. … Heartening for hospital executives is a now-long history of Congress delaying or repealing the painful parts of major legislation.'
PI REAL ESTATE CORNER: Washington Business Journal's Michael Neibauer reports that 'it looks like Mark Zuckerberg is assembling a private compound in Northwest Washington. The Meta Platforms Inc. CEO paid $23 million cash in March for a Woodland Normanstone mansion.
— 'On June 30, the neighboring property — the only other home on this block of 30th Street NW — sold to Stone Terrace LLC, a Delaware limited liability corporation, and all signs suggest Zuckerberg is behind it. The 8,100-square-foot, six-bedroom home sold for $8.8 million, nearly double its assessed value and more than double what it last sold for in 2021. The seller was powerhouse lobbyist Vin Roberti and his wife Amy.'
— 'The evidence is circumstantial that Zuckerberg, whose frequent presence in the District reflects the importance of proximity to power in the age of Trump, bought the Robertis' home in exclusive Woodland Normanstone. But there's a substantial amount of it and it's fairly standard practice for the Facebook founder … to develop compounds through acquisition for the sake of privacy and security.'
KIES TO THE KINGDOM: 'It is not uncommon in President Trump's Washington for lobbyists or other interested parties to get high-level positions at agencies where they once sought access on behalf of corporate clients,' The New York Times' Jesse Drucker writes.
— But Ken Kies, the veteran tax lobbyist confirmed last month to serve as the top tax policy official in the Treasury Department, 'is not just any lobbyist. For decades, he has played an instrumental role in enabling some of the most lucrative and most important tax avoidance strategies used by multinational companies and the wealthiest Americans.'
— 'In his new role, Mr. Kies will oversee about 100 attorneys and economists at the Treasury Department's Office of Tax Policy, a powerful corner of the federal government. The office issues regulations to help the government administer tax laws and provides guidance that can render the latest tax-dodging strategy a gold mine — or doom it.'
— 'With the passage of a $4.5 trillion tax cut package, Mr. Kies's office will have the responsibility to write the rules to interpret and administer the new law — an enormously powerful role, particularly given the fast speed at which the legislation was written and passed.'
FLYING IN: The National Corn Growers Association is in town this week to meet with around 150 Hill offices from both parties as well as senior Trump administration officials at USDA, EPA and other agencies.
— Farmers from more than two dozen states will rally behind the use of pesticides after being targeted in the MAHA Commission's initial report in May. They'll also lobby for year-round sales of E15 and urge the administration to prioritize new market access for corn farmers in its trade negotiations.
— Leaders with the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies will hit the Hill tomorrow for meetings with key lawmakers, including House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), Chief Deputy Whip Guy Reschenthaler (R-Pa.), NRCC Chair Richard Hudson (R-N.C.) and Senate GOP Conference Chair Tom Cotton (R-Ark.)
— Senior NAMIC representatives also have meetings on the books with Republican and Democratic lawmakers who are members of the House Financial Services Committee and Senate Banking Committee. They will discuss issues such as reining in the Federal Insurance Office, reforms to third-party litigation financing and a Biden-era proposal requiring consumers with federally backed mortgages to secure full replacement cost insurance, which NAMIC opposed.
— And members of the American Veterinary Medical Association will be on the Hill later in the week for a fly-in focused on protecting veterinarians' access to xylazine, an animal tranquilizer that is increasingly being used in illicit human drugs. Advocates representing vets and vet schools will also discuss ways of boosting recruitment and retention of vets in rural and underserved areas.
Jobs report
— Brandon Shaw has launched the eponymous firm B. Shaw Communications, which focuses on corporate and crisis/issues management. He most recently was vice president for corporate communications at Disney Entertainment Television, where he led the corporate PR efforts for Hulu Originals and is a WME and Obama advance alum.
— Brittney May is joining Ameren Corporation as a federal government relations representative. She most recently was senior legislative affairs manager at the National Hydropower Association and is a State Department and House Ways and Means Committee alum.
— Brad Lipton is joining the Roosevelt Institute as director of corporate power and financial regulation. He previously was senior legal counsel at the CFPB.
— Brett Meeks is returning to Jeffrey J. Kimbell & Associates as vice president of government affairs for AI and health technology. He previously was executive director of the Health Innovation Alliance and vice president at Horizon Government Affairs.
— John Provenzano is now the CEO of NENA. He previously was vice president of public affairs at Publix.
— Former Ambassador to China Gary Locke and former Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) have joined the board of the Council for Innovation Promotion.
— Jennifer Thibodeau is now director of federal affairs at Wiz. She previously was head of policy at Checkr and a senior global adviser at AWS.
— Scott Phillips is now a member of the aviation practice at Eckert Seamans. He previously was the resident legal officer for Central America and Mexico Programs at the U.S. Agency for International Development.
— Rina Shah is joining Our Republican Legacy as a senior adviser. She is founder of Vental Strategic Advisory Group.
New Joint Fundraisers
Illinois Victory Fund (Rep. Nikki Budzinski, DCCC, Prairie Political Action Committee)
Secure the US Senate 2026 (Sens. John Cornyn, Susan Collins, Ashley Moody, Alamo PAC, Dirigo PAC, Florida Leads, Texans for a Conservative Majority, Pine Tree Results PAC, Stronger Safer Nation, NRSC)
New PACs
America Patriot Power Pac (Super PAC)
Bridge Political Action Committee (Super PAC)
Concerned Property Owners of Cape Coral (PAC)
DIGITAL FREEDOM FUND (Super PAC)
FIREWALL PAC, INC. (Super PAC)
Restore Brevard (Super PAC)
Run with Pride PAC (PAC)
Rushmore Rising PAC (Super PAC)
STOP LIBERAL REPUBLICANS PAC (Super PAC)
TENNESSEE FIGHTER PAC (Super PAC)
New Lobbying REGISTRATIONS
Bgr Government Affairs: Honeywell International, Inc.
Boundary Stone Partners: Shoals Technologies Group
Boundary Stone Partners: Switched Source LLC
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP: Modernwest Longmont, LLC
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP: Tiryaki Agro Gida Sanayi Ve Ticaret
Capitol Tax Partners, LLP: Citigroup Washington Inc.
Cgcn Group, LLC: Pacific Fusion
Cornerstone Government Affairs, Inc.: Mr. Travis Hancock
Cornerstone Government Affairs, Inc.: Oshkosh Corporation
Dentons US LLP: Merced Irrigation District
Dermatology Association Of Radiation Therapy (Dart): Dermatology Association Of Radiation Therapy (Dart)
Fahmy Hudome International, Inc: Richard Scrushy
G2G Consulting: May Health
H.A. Cumber & Company, Inc.: Aecom
H.A. Cumber & Company, Inc.: Barletta Heavy Division, Inc.
Iqom Strategic Advisors, LLC: Superior Industries
Leavitt Partners, LLC: Alliance For Mrna Medicines
Liberty Partners Group, LLC: Sound Physicians (Fka Sound Inpatient Physicians, Inc.)
Michael Best Strategies LLC: Michigan Association Of Public School Academies
Miller Strategies, LLC: Illumina, Inc.
Patel Partners: Advantage Capital
Patientsact: Patientsact
Prest Public Strategies, LLC: Ko Consulting, LLC On Behalf Of Austintown Township
Prest Public Strategies, LLC: Ko Consulting, LLC On Behalf Of Trumbull County
Prest Public Strategies, LLC: Youngstown Business Incubator
Proenglish Aka Formerly Known As Proenglish A Project Of US Inc: Proenglish
Raffaniello & Associates: Conservation Coalition
Raffaniello & Associates: Solar Made In America Coalition, Inc.
Raffaniello & Associates: Watereuse Association
Raffaniello & Associates: White Mountains Capital, LLC
Stinson LLP: Uhu Technologies, LLC
Strategies 360: Americas Service Commissions
Sullivan & Cromwell LLP: Relx Inc.
Thompson Coburn LLP: Mycomputercareer.Com, Inc.
Troutman Stategies (Fka Troutman Pepper Strategies, LLC): Colonna's Shipyard, Inc.
Tsg Advocates Dc, LLC: Hellogov Ai, Inc.
New Lobbying Terminations
Center For Judicial Excellence: Center For Judicial Excellence
Cornerstone Government Affairs, Inc.: American Clean Power Association
Cornerstone Government Affairs, Inc.: National Kidney Foundation
Dentons US LLP: Henry County, Georgia
Dentons US LLP: Inspired Seedlings
Dentons US LLP: United Cdpap, Inc.
Ernst & Young LLP (Washington Council Ernst & Young): S Corporation Association
G2G Consulting: American Medical Womens Association
Grove Climate Group: New York Association Of Public Power
Holland & Knight LLP: Magnum Transaction Sub, LLC D/B/A Lyric
Holland & Knight LLP: Spirit Airlines, Inc.
Marla Grossman LLC: Acg Advocacy On Behalf Of News Corporation
Miller & Chevalier, Chtd: Crossharbor Capital Partners LLC
Mr. Craig Crotteau: Leupold & Stevens
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP: Arajet, S.A.
Podesta.Com: Quantum Materials Corp.
Proenglish Aka Formerly Known As Proenglish A Project Of US Inc: Proenglish
Skyline Capitol LLC: Moran Global Strategies, Inc. Obo Salesforce, Inc.
The Petrizzo Group, Inc.: Omeros Corporation
Vectis Dc: The News Literacy Project