Brownstein launches a public affairs practice

Politico

2 days ago

With Katherine Long, Daniel Lippman
FIRST IN PI: Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck is forming a public affairs practice, opening up one more stream of revenue for the law firm and K Street's top-earning lobbying shop. Brownstein has brought on Fora Partners co-founders Campbell Spencer and Max Hamel to lead the new practice, along with Sean Bartlett and Kristina Baum, who will be senior managers.
— Spencer and Hamel founded Fora in 2019. They've both worked at some of D.C.'s biggest public affairs shops. Spencer is an alum of the Obama administration, and Hamel previously worked for Republican former West Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore.
— Bartlett was most recently a deputy assistant secretary of State during the Biden administration and has served as a spokesperson for several top Democrats in Congress over the years. Baum joins from American Veterinary Medical Association, where she was director of strategic communications, and is an alum of the first Trump administration.
— A growing number of D.C. lobbying firms have added in-house strategic communications or public affairs offerings in recent years — though plenty have practices already — or else hired out for big jobs. Public affairs campaigns have become a more integral part of advocacy work with the rise of social media and hyperpartisanship.
— 'We're in this permanent political cycle, and that tends to reinforce the very reactive tendencies of either a closely divided Congress or state house or executive branch agencies,' Hamel told PI. 'I think the concept is very straightforward: that firms that can wage a multi-dimensional effort that combines lobbying with public affairs and communications are going to have an advantage.'
— So in many ways, this was a long time coming for a firm that brought in more than $67 million in lobbying revenues last year. Nadeam Elshami, who co-chairs Brownstein's lobbying practice, said in an interview that the firm had been debating the idea of adding a public affairs group on and off for at least as long as he'd been there. But those discussions got more serious over the past three years. 'It took a while, but finding the right individuals, the right team, was paramount, and we did,' he said.
— 'Brownstein's clients have really been asking for this, as have ours,' Spencer told PI. 'With the policy landscape being as fast-moving as it is, clients really want and are demanding strategic alignment across all of these advocacy verticals … and this partnership allows us to deliver that for them.'
— Bringing public affairs work in-house 'completes the circle of giving our clients and prospective clients all the best ways to advance their priorities' within the Beltway and beyond, Elshami added.
AFP DEFENDS MEGABILL'S PRICE TAG: As select Republicans in Congress and a certain tech mogul duke it out with the White House and party leadership over the reconciliation bill, Americans for Prosperity is working to tamp down angst over the megabill's effect on the national debt.
— 'AFP fully supports efforts to root out more waste, fraud, and abuse now and in the future,' Emily Seidel, the Koch-funded conservative group's president and CEO, said in a statement. But, she argued, sinking the reconciliation bill 'because it doesn't solve our debt crisis is reckless and wrong.'
— Seidel's backing of the megabill isn't new: AFP has pledged to spend $20 million getting Republicans' extension of the 2017 tax cuts, which AFP also supported, over the finish line.
— But it's still a striking stand by an organization that made a name for itself in part for its demands to shrink the budget deficit. And it comes one day after a Congressional Budget Office forecast that the House-passed package would increase the debt by $2.4 trillion over a decade.
— Seidel maintained that Republicans can and should get to tackling the deficit — after clearing the reconciliation bill. 'We didn't get here overnight, and Washington isn't going to fix it with one bill,' she continued, adding that 'even if this bill cuts enough spending to be fully offset, we're still on a course for bankruptcy that requires comprehensive reforms to how Congress makes spending decisions.'
Happy Thursday and welcome to PI. What last-minute maneuvering are you doing over in the Senate? Which megabill lobbying battles are flying under the radar? You can add me on Signal, email me at [e-mail], and be sure to follow me on X: @caitlinoprysko.
WE GOOFED: Yesterday's edition misstated which clients are joining Len Wolfson at his new firm. America's Credit Unions and DeFi Education Fund are staying with Fed Hall Policy Advisors.
AUTOMAKER TROUBLES: The Alliance for Automotive Innovation has yet to present a unified public message on the Republicans' megabill, as automakers have failed to reach a consensus on the legislation, our James Bikales writes. The rift comes as the Senate considers major rollbacks to electric vehicle and manufacturing tax credits.
— 'The trade group had strongly defended the credits in Democrats' climate law last year, and in recent months warned that rolling them back would threaten U.S. competitiveness and national security, given China's heavy investment in EV manufacturing.'
— 'But even as the Senate has moved quickly to take up the bill, the Alliance has yet to take a public stance because its members have failed to reach consensus on changes to a key tax credit claimed by automakers for producing EV batteries, according to the four people, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive internal dynamics.'
ON THE AIRWAVES: Protect Our Jobs, a pro-clean-energy group, is running $1 million in TV and digital ads warning key Senate Republicans against following the House's plan to in some cases sunset — and in other places eviscerate — the green tax credits created by the Biden-era climate law, our friends at Inside Congress report.
— 'These politicians promised to bring down our monthly costs. But cutting America's energy production will only make our costs go up,' the narrator says in the ad, which began running Monday on 'Fox & Friends' and in the D.C. area, and will on Friday move into Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, North Carolina and Utah.
— Sens. Jerry Moran of Kansas, John Curtis of Utah and Thom Tillis of North Carolina have all urged GOP leadership not to follow through with a full-scale repeal of the credits, warning it could harm investments back home. Tillis, who faces a potentially difficult reelection fight in his purple state, expressed some cautious optimism Wednesday that Senate Republicans want to find a 'glide path' for businesses that already have projects in motion using the credits, but didn't elaborate.
FLYING IN: The American Fleet Leadership Coalition, launched earlier this year to try and salvage the IRA's tax credit for commercial electric vehicles, wrapped up a two-day fly-in today aimed at rallying support for the provision. The tax credit would wind down this year under the House-passed megabill.
— The coalition was slated to meet with members of the tax-writing Senate Finance Committee to make the case that incentivizing fleet upgrades will reduce overhead costs for businesses, nonprofits and municipalities, while boosting domestic manufacturing goals.
— And health executives across the industry convened in D.C. this week for the Healthcare Leadership Council's membership meeting, where they heard from officials including CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz and Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.).
— On the Hill, executives met with lawmakers from both parties, including Reps. Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.), Buddy Carter (R-Ga.) and Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) to press for permanently extending enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credits and telehealth permissions, among other things.
AI GOES TO WASHINGTON: Two privately held AI companies, OpenAI and Anthropic, are now ramping up their lobbying efforts and chasing contracts from the roughly $75 billion federal IT budget that largely focuses on AI, our Mohar Chatterjee writes. The two companies are increasing their Washington staff, and are among a handful of other AI companies expanding their lobbying efforts.
— Scale AI, a specialist contractor with the Pentagon and other agencies, has plans to expand its lobbying teams. And AI-focused chipmaker Nvidia hired its first in-house lobbyist in late March.
— 'This lobbying push aims to capitalize on a wave of support from both the Trump administration and the Republican Congress, both of which have pumped up the AI industry as a linchpin of American competitiveness and a means for shrinking the federal workforce.'
DOG DAYS: Blue Dog Coalition, a caucus of the more moderate House members of the Democratic party, is launching a super PAC and nonprofit to take unlimited donations, Shane Goldmacher and Reid J. Epstein write for The New York Times.
— 'The new nonprofit, which has not been previously reported, will be called the Blue Dog Action Fund, with Aisha Woodward, a former chief of staff to [Rep. Jared] Golden, serving as executive director and overseeing a staff of five.'
— Blue Dog's new fundraising efforts took place on the heels of WelcomeFest, a conference held Wednesday for center-left groups to discuss winning strategies for the Democratic Party.
HERE COMES HYDROGEN: 'More than 200 organizations — including the regional hydrogen hub developers and major oil and gas trade groups — are pressing Republican senators to preserve the Inflation Reduction Act's hydrogen production tax credit' in the reconciliation bill, per POLITICO's Kelsey Tamborrino.
— 'In a letter to Senate leaders sent on Thursday, the organizations call for the hydrogen tax credit to remain in place for projects that commence construction by Dec. 31, 2029. That timeline would provide a runway for the industry to advance projects already in multiyear development cycles, they argue. 'Anything less puts billions in committed investments — and tens of thousands of jobs — at risk,' the groups wrote on Thursday.'
— The letter's signatories include the Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Energy Association, American Petroleum Institute, National Association of Manufacturers, U.S. Chamber of Commerce and American Chemistry Council, Plug Power, Cummins and Toyota Motor North America.
SPOTTED on Wednesday at an Amazon reception for the launch of the Republican Asian American Staff Association, per a tipster: Reps. Young Kim (R-Calif.) and Vince Fong (R-Calif.), RAASA co-Chairs Christopher Zhen of Rep. Jeff Hurd's (R-Colo.) office and Jinwook Hwang of the House Foreign Affairs Committee; Miguel Mendoza, Julia Satin and Nate Blake of Amazon, James Min of Miller Strategies, Ashley Juhn of Rep. Bob Latta's (R-Ohio) office, Saat Alety of Federal Hall Policy Advisors, Yong Choe of YC Consulting, Neal Patel of Patel Partners, Charles Gann of Rep. Randy Fine's (R-Fla.) office, Clayton Fong of the National Asian Pacific Center on Aging, Stephanie Penn of Sen. Mitch McConnell's (R-Ky.) office, Haley Tran of Rep. Zach Nunn's (R-Iowa) office, Charli Huddleston of Heritage Action, Dylan Jeon of the National Retail Federation, Shine Lee, Jaliya Nagahawatte and Linette Choi of Kim's office, Daniel Chung of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Ken Farnaso and Ninio Fetalvo of the Brunswick Group and Ayush Nallapally of Rep. Rich McCormick's (R-Ga.) office.
Jobs report
— Former British Prime Minister David Cameron has joined DLA Piper as a consultant.
— The Clean Energy Buyer's Association is adding Rich England as senior director of government affairs. He was most recently U.S. government affairs lead at Corio Generation and is a National Ocean Industries Association and Pete Olson alum.
— Josh Korn is now at Whatnot, the live shopping platform, as head of public policy, overseeing U.S. and global policy. Korn previously was tech policy head at Netflix.
— GuidePost Strategies has added Kate Beaulieu and Alex Large as principals, Pam Kinsey as senior adviser, Hailey Womer as director of research, Luke Midura and Tim Frei as associates and Mya Steir as an administrative assistant.
— Access Partnership has named Gordon Tempest-Hay as its new CEO. He was previously the chief executive at Lansons and is a Teneo alum.
— Seven Letter has promoted Blair Taylor to partner and Aida Farah and Cate Biegun to managers. The firm's research division, Seven Letter Insight, promoted Jessa Scott-Johnson to managing director and Annie Pfifer, Macsonny Onyechefule and Robin Calleja to directors.
— Caroline Farrell is joining Foley Hoag as counsel in its health care practice. She most recently was at HHS as lead counsel advising the CMS on Medicaid and Medicare policy.
— Eden Alem is now deputy comms director for the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Dems. She previously was national press secretary at Climate Power.
— Nicole Fondots is now digital marketing director for the RNC. She previously was vice president of strategy at Techne.
— Hana Tadesse is now vice president of communications for the Seattle FIFA World Cup 26 local organizing committee. She previously was comms director for Rep. Kim Schrier (D-Wash.).
— Dezenhall Resources is adding Phillip Bogdan and Diane Chaaban as senior directors. Bogdan previously was director of research and comms at Reach Global Strategies. Chaaban previously was head of comms for the City of El Segundo and is a State Department and National Geographic alum.
— GPS Impact is adding Mariafernanda 'Marifer' Zacarias as vice president of campaigns and Lidya Mesgna as vice president of digital mobilization. Zacarias previously was national engagement director at the DCCC and Mesgna previously was director of paid media at Voto Latino.
— Courtney Rhodes is now head of news and media relations at the U.S. Travel Association, Morning Transportation reports. She was previously a spokesperson at the FDA.
— Amy Hopcian is now a strategic adviser at Comella & Co. She most recently was head of state and local public affairs at CLEAR.
— Allison Smith is now a vice president at Lot Sixteen. She previously was deputy assistant USTR for environment and natural resources.
New Joint Fundraisers
Debbie Dingell Majority Fund (Rep. Debbie Dingell, Wolverine PAC)
New PACs
Maryland's Future Political Action Committee (Super PAC)
Technology Alliance for Green Energy Transition (PAC)
New Lobbying REGISTRATIONS
Arentfox Schiff LLP: Association Of American Railroads
Balch & Bingham, LLP: Modesto Irrigation District
Balch & Bingham, LLP: Turlock Irrigation District
Becker & Poliakoff, P.A.: Chaldean Community Council
Boom Technology, Inc.: Boom Technology, Inc.
Cavarocchi Ruscio Dennis Associates, L.L.C.: Society Of Behavioral Medicine
Cgcn Group, LLC: Outschool, Inc.
Cgcn Group, LLC: Outschool.Org
Continental Strategy, LLC: Medical Micro Instruments (Mmi, Inc.)
Conventum Group, LLC: Association For The Improvement Of American Infrastructure
Cornerstone Government Affairs, Inc.: Eagle Energy Metals Corp.
Economic Policy Strategies: Pinterest, Inc.
Hogan Lovells US LLP: Fifa World Cup Dallas 2026
Hogan Lovells US LLP: Fifa World Cup Houston 2026
Hogan Lovells US LLP: Fifa World Cup Los Angeles 2026
Hogan Lovells US LLP: Fifa World Cup Miami 2026
Hogan Lovells US LLP: Fifa World Cup New York New Jersey 2026
Hogan Lovells US LLP: Fifa World Cup San Francisco Bay Area 2026
J M Burkman & Associates: Conx-USa
J M Burkman & Associates: Nextdet LLC
Jti Marketing & Communications, Inc. Dba Jti, Inc.: Controltek
Jti Marketing & Communications, Inc. Dba Jti, Inc.: Crane Payment Innovations
Jti Marketing & Communications, Inc. Dba Jti, Inc.: Diebold Nixdorf
Jti Marketing & Communications, Inc. Dba Jti, Inc.: Ncr Atleos
Jti Marketing & Communications, Inc. Dba Jti, Inc.: Western Union
K&L Gates, LLP: The Port Authority Of New York And New Jersey
Mehlman Consulting, Inc.: Gen Digital
Mehlman Consulting, Inc.: National Electrical Manufacturers Association
Mercury Public Affairs, LLC: Highland Community College
Mgb Consulting: Beam Therapeutics
Mindset Advocacy, LLC: Mark Food LLC
Natural State Consulting And Strategies: Turbare Manufacturing
Old North Strategies, LLC: Qualexa Healthcare, LLC
Polaris Government Relations, LLC: Hartz Capital, Inc.
Rubiner Strategies: Court Accountability Action (Global Impact Social Welfare Fund)
Schagrin Associates: Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturers Association
Tholos Government Relations: Delta Airlines
Tholos Government Relations: Medforth Global
Tholos Government Relations: Ttm Technologies,Inc.
New Lobbying Terminations
Butterfield Evans & Associates LLC: Institute Of Cetacean Research
Law Offices Of Frederick H. Graefe, Pllc: Hypatia Group, Inc.