Happy Friday the 13th, and welcome to PI. Send your superstitions and lobbying tips: coprysko@politico.com. And follow me on Twitter: @caitlinoprysko. MORE NEW BUSINESS: Swedish furniture giant Ikea has hired ML Strategies to lobby on "issues related consumer product safety" on the Stop Tip-overs of Unstable Risky Dressers on Youth — or STURDY — Act, according to a disclosure filing. Ikea retained Venable, paying $50,000 for generally the same purpose from October 2019 to April 2020. PROGRESSIVES WARN BIDEN ON TRANSITION TEAMS: Progressives are already putting pressure on the incoming Biden administration to minimize industry and corporate influence and raising warnings about members of the agency review teams Biden's transition announced earlier this week. — "The announcement this week of a 23-person 'agency review team' for the Defense Department raised a number of eyebrows over what one critic called a 'lack of diversity of thought' and nearly unanimous links to top military contractors," POLITICO's Bryan Bender reports . While several on the Pentagon landing team are "considered less conventional thinkers, a sign that Biden's top advisers are aware that different approaches are needed," Bryan notes "most of the others on the team … come from think tanks or consulting firms heavily financed by leading defense companies, including CSIS, New America and the Center for a New American Security. Those think tanks, which are largely considered center-left, are among the top 10 recipients of defense industry donations, according to a study published last month by the Center for International Policy." — "CNAS in particular stands out. Nearly half of the think tank's funding came from Lockheed Martin, Boeing, General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon , the study found, with Northrop Grumman and Boeing being the largest donors. It also looms especially large because it was co-founded by" Michèle Flournoy, considered a top contender to be Biden's Defense secretary. The concerns come after a pair of progressive lawmakers urged Biden on Thursday to ensure his Pentagon chief hasn't worked for a defense contractor. — Meanwhile liberal groups sent Biden a letter Thursday urging the president-elect to adopt some the ethical restrictions espoused by his more liberal primary challengers, warning him not to "nominate or hire corporate executives, lobbyists, and prominent corporate consultants," the New York Times reports. — "An early indicator of Mr. Biden's efforts to navigate this divide will come when he announces ethics rules for his government, a move expected in the hours after his inauguration. The progressive activists want him to adopt hiring practices that go far beyond policies embraced by former President Barack Obama, who barred officials in his administration from working on issues on which they had lobbied in the past two years. — "The Biden transition said in a statement that the president-elect was determined to ensure that 'public servants serve all Americans, not themselves or narrow special interests.' The transition statement did not take a detailed position on what kinds of ethics prohibitions Mr. Biden would impose on hiring, but it hinted that Mr. Biden might bring on staff members who have worked on behalf of various causes and interests in the past." CEOs GAME-PLANNED TRUMP'S REFUSAL TO CONCEDE: More than two dozen of the nation's top CEOs met last weekend to plan for the possibility of Trump refusing to step down past Biden's Jan. 20 inauguration, The Associated Press reports , a prospect that the president repeatedly declined to shoot down prior to the election. The group of business leaders agreed that Trump, who has not yet conceded to Biden after the former vice president on Saturday was projected as the winner of last Tuesday's election, has the legal right to challenge the results of the election, a long-shot bid Trump's team is pursuing. — "But if Trump tries to undo the legal process or disrupts a peaceful transition to Biden, the CEOs discussed making public statements and pressuring GOP legislators in their states who may try to redirect Electoral College votes from Biden to Trump, said Yale Management Professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, who convened the meeting," the AP reports. — "The CEOs decided to wait for the Nov. 20 certification of votes in Georgia before meeting to decide their next moves. Action could include threats to stop donations to political action committees or even corporate relocations, Sonnenfeld said. He spoke with six or seven CEOs on Wednesday who said that if there were 'seditious riots' at Trump rallies or more mass firings like Trump's ouster of Defense Secretary Mark Esper and other Pentagon officials, they want to reconvene to talk about acting faster as individuals, Sonnenfeld said." — "'They thought it could have a very devastating effect upon on markets, on public trust in the process,' and they would act 'to make sure that the Republican elected officials do their jobs and and then be patriots and respect the process,' Sonnenfeld said. The CEOs weren't worried about reprisals against their businesses but emphasized acting together." | 
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