7 days ago
Thorn Run lands Trump's top maritime regulator
With Daniel Lippman
THORN RUN ADDS 3: Louis Sola, who left the Federal Maritime Commission last month after six years, has joined Thorn Run Partners as one of three new partners at the firm. Sola was nominated to the FMC by President Donald Trump in 2018, and earlier this year Trump tapped him to lead the commission, which oversees maritime commerce, as its chair. The hire bolsters Thorn Run's ties to the Trump administration at a key moment for international trade.
— Crypto lobbyist Chris Hayes and Republican lobbyist Hayden Jewett have also joined Thorn Run as partners. Hayes was the president and co-founder of the crypto-focused firm Capitol Asset Strategies, and before that he served as head of government affairs at the Celo Foundation. Jewett was most recently a principal at The Vogel Group and is a Gap, Boys and Girls Clubs of America and John Culberson alum.
TECH GROUP ADDS GOP HILL AIDES: The Information Technology Industry Council is staffing up its lobbying team with a pair of former Republican Hill aides. Stephanie Patel, a former staffer for the Senate Commerce Committee, and Noah Barger, former deputy chief of staff to Rep. Mike Bost (R-Ill.), will be directors of government affairs for the trade association, whose members include Google, Apple, Amazon, Anthropic, Intel, Adobe, Microsoft and Meta.
— Patel has spent the past two years working for the Commerce panel, which oversees the tech industry, under now-Chair Ted Cruz (R-Texas). Before that, she was a legislative correspondent for Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo) and did stints with former Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Invariant, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and BGR Group.
— Barger has worked for Bost since 2017, and also served as a senior adviser to the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, which Bost chairs. He previously worked for former Rep. Bob Dold (R-Ill.).
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MENDING BRIDGES: 'Building America's Future, a dark-money group that has been supported by Elon Musk, is shelling out more than a million dollars to promote recent White House wins, including a GOP domestic policy package the Tesla CEO and former Trump administration employee once called 'a disgusting abomination,'' POLITICO's Gregory Svirnovskiy reports.
— 'The 30-second ad, titled 'Independence,' is set to run nationally on Fox News and will congratulate President Donald Trump on the passage of Republicans' 'One Big, Beautiful Bill,' which extends his 2017 tax cuts alongside other GOP wins at the expense of nearly $1 trillion in coming Medicaid cuts.'
— 'Musk, who has donated extensively to BAF, assailed the megabill when it reached Congress,' and threatened to bankroll primary challenges against every Republican who voted for the measure.
— 'But the group that Musk has backed doesn't agree with his assessment of the megabill. 'President Trump, Leader John Thune, and Speaker Mike Johnson all showed tremendous strength and vision to get historic tax cuts for working families across the finish line this summer, and their remarkable achievement will put America on a path to prosperity for years to come,' said Generra Peck, senior advisor to the group.'
BEHIND THE LOBBYING FIGHT OVER FACIAL RECOGNITION BILL: 'Senate GOP privacy hawks are stewing over the derailment of a bill … that would limit face scanning technologies — and blaming the TSA for interference in an under-the-radar legislative battle,' per POLITICO's Benjamin Guggenheim.
— 'On the surface, Senate Commerce Chair Ted Cruz had to cancel consideration of the bipartisan bill that would put guardrails on the airport security screening tool due to intense lobbying from the travel industry, which had sowed seeds of doubt among committee members.'
— 'Privately, though, Republicans who support the measure say it was the TSA itself, with the encouragement of its politically appointed leadership, that assumed a critical role in orchestrating the lobbying campaign that grew opposition and forced the legislation to be scrapped at the last minute from the markup docket.'
— The lobbying effort may imperil the potential confirmation prospects for Ha Nguyen McNeill, the current acting TSA chief who Trump is expected to nominate to fill the role full-time. McNeill was previously an executive at Pangiam, which provides airports with AI-powered facial recognition software that the company boasts can match a photo against a gallery of millions of mugshots in a matter of milliseconds.
— TSA's opposition to the facial recognition bill pits McNeill against Kristi Noem, who as DHS secretary is McNeill's superior and who supports the bill, per Ben. And even though travel and biometrics industry groups reiterated their opposition last week, 'lawmakers who have been trying to push the bill forward are saying that TSA was the real driving force behind the legislation's withdrawal, with the agency using industry lobbyists as conduits to relay dissatisfaction and mar the measure's chances.'
ANNALS OF INFLUENCE PEDDLING: Campaign finance reports filed last week by Trump's super PAC are helping shed new light on the ways 'lobbyists, political consultants and others in the influence industry have capitalized on Mr. Trump's aggressive fund-raising while in office to deliver for clients and earn chits with a president who keeps close tabs on who is delivering cash and listens to their appeals,' The New York Times' Ken Vogel and David Yaffe-Bellany reported over the weekend.
— 'MAGA Inc.'s report included donations from a mother seeking a pardon for her son, as well as people who had been, or would later be, appointed to posts in his administration and companies in industries seeking more lenient treatment than they had gotten under' the Biden administration.
— 'It is not just MAGA Inc. that benefits. Since Mr. Trump's election last fall, fund-raisers and lobbyists have been steering corporations and donors to a buffet of options for unlimited giving, some of which are less overtly political or allow anonymous donations, that can bring access to the president.' The options included Trump's inaugural committee, which shattered fundraising records, as well as the Trump-affiliated dark money group Securing American Greatness. 'Even the White House Historical Association has become a vehicle for lobbyists and favor seekers,' the Times reports.
FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES: AECOM, the infrastructure firm tapped by the White House to lead the engineering team for the construction of the $200 million White House ballroom being built with private money, is a lobbying client of Ballard Partners, which previously employed Trump administration officials like as White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and Attorney General Pam Bondi, per Daniel.
— AECOM hired Ballard a week after Trump's win in November, and has paid the firm $120,000 to lobby the White House and Congress so far this year. Wiles, who left Ballard years before it signed AECOM, told Daniel in an email that she didn't 'know how they were selected, but I was never lobbied about any of the contractors or involved in any way.' Ballard declined to comment. Spokespeople for AECOM didn't respond to a request for comment.
— AECOM has received numerous federal contracts since the start of the Trump administration, including an Air Force contract worth up to $1.5 billion and at least two major contracts from the Army Corps of Engineers. A White House official pointed Daniel to data showing AECOM has also been a major contractor for the government during Democratic administrations and that two-thirds of AECOM's contributions during the 2024 cycle went to Democrats.
Jobs report
— Nancy Travis has joined Novartis as executive director of trade and investment. Most recently, she served as vice president, head of international affairs at the Biotechnology Innovation Organization.
— Salah Ghazzal has joined Variant, a venture capital firm investing in early-stage crypto companies, as policy lead. He was previously policy and legislative analysis manager at the Blockchain Association.
— May (Davis) Mailman is launching MPL Strategies, a government affairs shop. She is a longtime Trump White House veteran who most recently was senior policy strategist and worked in the offices of the White House counsel and chief of staff in the first term. She will also be legal director at Independent Women's Law Center. Per CBS' Jennifer Jacobs, she'll also be a special government employee to finish up some policy work.
— Elizabeth Jungman is now a partner at Hogan Lovells. She previously was a senior policy adviser in the office of the FDA commissioner.
— Pat Mitchell is now vice president of banking and economic policy research at the American Bankers Association. He most recently served as director of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's division of insurance and research.
— Greg Hellman is now senior director for government affairs and communications at Leidos. He was previously communications director for Leidos' National Security Sector and is a POLITICO alum.
— Seth Mailhot is now a partner in the healthcare and life sciences practice at Barnes & Thornburg. He previously was an investigator and compliance officer at FDA.
— Michael Kades is joining Nachawati Law Group to launch its antitrust practice. He previously was a deputy assistant AG at the Justice Department's Antitrust Division, focused on civil enforcement.
— Craig Becker is joining Democracy Defenders Fund as managing counsel for affirmative litigation. He is a former general counsel at the AFL-CIO.
— Allison Zelman is now chief strategy officer at the Roosevelt Institute. She most recently was chief of staff at the Labor Department.
— Adam Chelseth is now director of government affairs for global operations at Mastercard. He most recently was at Deloitte Consulting.
New Joint Fundraisers
None.
New PACs
A Better Majority PAC (Super PAC)
Fight for a Democratic Majority PAC (Leadership PAC: Katherine Clark)
The Meme Law (PAC)
National Funeral Directors & Mortician Political Action Committee (PAC)
No Fail PAC (Leadership PAC: Adam Schwarze)
Unite for Our Future (Super PAC)
New Lobbying REGISTRATIONS
Becker & Poliakoff, P.A.: City Of Tamarac, Fl
Becker & Poliakoff, P.A.: The Farley Group (Obo Native Cdfi Network)
Bluebird Strategies: Ata Action
Holland & Knight LLP: Gateway Development Commission
Jed Cochran: Native Strategies, LLC
Lmh Strategic Solutions: Regenxbio Inc.
Monument Advocacy: Taber Extrusions, LLC
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP: American Committee For The Weizmann Institute Of Science (Acwis)
Stapleton & Associates, LLC: Quantum-Systems, Inc.
Tsg Advocates Dc, LLC: Forensic Criminal Justice Alliance
Tsg Advocates Dc, LLC: Orlando Mendoza
Wiley Rein LLP: Peak Energy Technologies, Inc.
Willow Laboratories: Willow Laboratories
New Lobbying Terminations
Cuney, Edwards, Washington, And Associates: Lip Chip LLC
I Street Advocates: 'Fuse Media, Inc. (Formerly Known As Sitv, Inc.)'
Liberty Government Affairs: Navigators Global LLC On Behalf Of Shein Technology LLC
Ml Strategies, LLC: Wi-Fi Alliance
Platform Government Strategies: The Primary Care Collaborative
The Conafay Group, LLC: Lifescience Logistics
