| | | | | |  | | By Caitlin Oprysko | Presented by Obesity Care Advocacy Network | With Daniel Lippman NEW BUSINESS: Mastercard is jumping into antitrust lobbying for the first time in years. The payment giant hired The Duberstein Group at the end of May to lobby several other issues the company typically lobbies on including payment transactions, cybersecurity, virtual currency, trade and sanctions, and consumer products, according to the newly filed disclosure. But an analysis of filings shows that despite retaining a sizable bench of outside lobbying firms that includes The Raben Group, CGCN Group, Sidley Austin and Tiber Creek Group, Mastercard hasn't reported lobbying lawmakers on antitrust issues since 2014. — The move comes amid a wave of antitrust fervor in Washington, with the White House preparing an executive order "aimed at lessening the stranglehold of dominant players in industries ranging from banking and agriculture to shipping and air travel" that could be issued as soon as this week, POLITICO's Leah Nylen reports. — Meanwhile, tech critic Lina Khan has taken the reins of the FTC, and the House Judiciary Committee last week marked up a series of antitrust bills targeting Big Tech companies like Amazon, Apple and Google (the committee rejected attempts to broaden provisions that could have swept up payment companies). Another proposed overhaul from Sen. Amy Klobuchar, the Senate antitrust chair, would crack down on mega-mergers as fintech acquisitions surge. — Mastercard and rival credit card company Visa were recently hit with a class-action lawsuit from small businesses accusing the card companies of conspiring with banks to increase transaction fees for purchases made through Square payment systems, after Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) blasted the two's "duopoly" on swipe fees at an antitrust hearing in March. The Wall Street Journal reported days later that the Justice Department, which during the Trump administration blocked a deal for Visa to buy fintech firm Plaid, is investigating Visa's debit card practices and had asked questions about Mastercard's practices in the space, too. Good afternoon and welcome to PI . Thanks to those who shared fun Pedey memories with me this weekend — made sweeter by a second sweep of the Yankees this season. Send lobbying tips: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on Twitter: @caitlinoprysko. | | A message from Obesity Care Advocacy Network: Obesity is a disease affecting nearly 100M Americans. 78% of the people who were hospitalized, placed on a ventilator or died from COVID-19 lived with obesity, particularly impacting Black and Latinx people who suffer higher rates of obesity than White Americans. Healthcare providers know obesity is a preventable and treatable disease, but Medicare doesn't cover life-saving obesity treatment. Congress needs to change these outdated laws and provide Obesity Care Now to reduce inequities. Learn More. | | | BLUNT AIDE TO RUN NEW PAC PRACTICE AT HUSCH BLACKWELL: Husch Blackwell Strategies, the Missouri-based lobbying firm run by one of Sen. Roy Blunt's (R-Mo.) sons and one of his former chiefs of staff, is adding another former longtime staffer to the retiring senator, Keri Ann Hayes , to run a new practice for PAC and campaign resources. Hayes, who served as the NRSC's director of corporate giving prior to her two decades with Blunt, will advise clients on PAC and executive-giving programs, including ensuring employees' PAC contributions go farther, in addition to helping put on fundraisers. — The new offerings don't have as much to do with the corporate PAC reckoning as a result of January's insurrection — which chief executive Gregg Hartley told PI he views as more of a short-term issue — as they do with the fundraising world's emergence from the pandemic, which showed the "efficiency and convenience" of the Zoom fundraiser, he said in an interview. For a lot of clients, with the return to in-person events, "it's a good time to revisit how they do things, so I do think there are clients out there that want to make sure that they have all the right procedures and protocols in place" and that they're adapting to "a sort of hybrid world of how fundraising is accomplished." JUUL SETTLES CASE IN NORTH CAROLINA FOR $40M: "Juul has agreed to pay North Carolina $40 million to settle the first of a spate of lawsuits brought by states that claimed the company's marketing practices fueled widespread addiction among young people to its high-nicotine e-cigarettes," The New York Times' Sheila Kaplan reports. In the settlement, announced today by state Attorney General Josh Stein, "the company denies any wrongdoing or liability. The consent decree requires Juul to sell its products only behind the counter in North Carolina stores, and to use third-party age verification systems for online sales." — "The order also commits Juul to sending teenage 'mystery shoppers' to 1,000 stores each year, to check whether they are selling to minors. It also bars the company from using models under age 35 in advertisements and states that no advertisements should be posted near schools." Stein's 2019 lawsuit "accused Juul of designing, marketing and selling e-cigarettes to attract young people, and of misrepresenting the potency and danger of nicotine in the company's products, in violation of the state's Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act," with similar complaints pending in states across the country. — "A group of 39 attorneys general have spent the past 16 months investigating Juul for its marketing and sales practices, as has the Food and Drug Administration," while an antitrust trial challenging tobacco giant Altria 's investment in Juul kicked off earlier this month. "Beyond all the legal challenges, the company is awaiting a decision from the F.D.A. on whether its products can remain on the market. The agency must decide by early September whether Juul and other new tobacco and vaping products are 'appropriate for the protection of public health' and can continue to be sold." | | | | SUBSCRIBE TO WEST WING PLAYBOOK: Add West Wing Playbook to keep up with the power players, latest policy developments and intriguing whispers percolating inside the West Wing and across the highest levels of the Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today. | | | | | IF YOU MISSED IT FRIDAY — HIKVISION LANDS ON A LOBBYING STRATEGY: "The Chinese tech giant Hikvision, accused of helping the Chinese government's campaign against the Uyghur minority, has turned to former members of Congress to lobby on its behalf as the United States imposes a series of measures limiting its ability to do business with American companies and investors," The Washington Post's Drew Harwell reports. — Former Rep. Toby Moffett, who now co-chairs Mercury Public Affairs , "will lobby for Hikvision's U.S. subsidiary on issues related to the National Defense Authorization Act and engage with members of the State, Treasury and Commerce departments, according to a Foreign Agents Registration Act filing made public Thursday." He joins "former senator David Vitter (R-La.) in lobbying for a company racing to defend itself in Washington amid questions over its links to Chinese government surveillance and oppression. Another former senator, Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), registered to lobby for the company, but withdrew from that representation in January amid public criticism." — "Earlier this month, the Biden administration banned Americans from investing in the company, citing its links to the Chinese military. Hikvision, whose largest shareholder is owned by the Chinese government, faces another critical threat from U.S. regulators who are considering whether to issue a nationwide ban on purchases of the firm's equipment." HEY, ALL YOU COOL CATS AND KITTENS: Netflix's quarantine hit "Tiger King" may not have painted Big Cat Rescue's Carole Baskin as the protagonist and one of the Florida animal sanctuary's only lobbying firms, Turnberry Solutions, may have folded in the wake of Donald Trump 's election loss, but Baskin and her husband, as well as former Turnberry lobbyist Jason Osborne, who re-signed Big Cat at his new firm Connect Strategies, were back on the Hill last week feeling hopeful and targeting GOP support for a perennial bill that seeks to ban private ownership of big cats like lions, tigers and cougars, The Daily Beast's Jackie Kucinich reports. — "Osborne, the Republican lobbyist and Trump 2016 veteran hired by Big Cat Rescue — the Baskins' Tampa-based animal sanctuary — said there were many reasons to be optimistic that this Congress will get the bill to President Joe Biden's desk." For one, the Columbus Zoo , which a new documentary posits was a key obstacle in passing the bill, endorsed it in April. And now, "law enforcement, which usually ends up having to deal with escaped pet jungle cats, has joined the lobbying coalition and has been a powerful tool in attracting GOP members to the cause. 'Everybody loves their sheriff,' Osborne said. 'Sheriffs come in and tell stories about being called on a welfare check...and they get there and there's a tiger in the basement.'" | | | |   | | | | | | — Booz Allen Hamilton has added Neely Marcus Silbey as policy director. She was most recently a senior adviser at Innovative Federal Strategies and is a Patty Murray and Department of the Army alum. — Patrick Dolan is joining BGR Group as a senior director for state affairs. He was most recently deputy director of strategic partnerships at Immigration Hub. — Letitia Long is now on the T-Mobile board of directors and will serve as national security director. She was previously director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. — Wade Giltz is now a campaign manager with Calvert Street Group, per Playbook. He previously was legislative correspondent for Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.). — Jordan Monaghan is now press secretary for North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, Playbook reports. He previously was a principal at Precision Strategies and is a Sara Gideon alum. | | | | SUBSCRIBE TO "THE RECAST" TODAY: Power is shifting in Washington and in communities across the country. More people are demanding a seat at the table, insisting that politics is personal and not all policy is equitable. The Recast is a twice-weekly newsletter that explores the changing power dynamics in Washington and breaks down how race and identity are recasting politics and policy in America. Get fresh insights, scoops and dispatches on this crucial intersection from across the country and hear critical new voices that challenge business as usual. Don't miss out, SUBSCRIBE . Thank you to our sponsor, Intel. | | | | | | | | CHENEY-GONZALEZ 2022 (Reps. Liz Cheney, Anthony Gonzalez, Cowboy PAC, Buckeye PAC) | | | The Douglass Project (Super PAC)
Florida Works Leadership PAC (PAC)
Keeping America Strong PAC (Super PAC)
The Launch PAC (PAC) | | New Lobbying Registrations | | Alston & Bird LLP: Ambature, Inc.
Ballard Partners: Acuityads Inc.
Ballard Partners: Jr Miller Enterprises
Ballard Partners: Bcfs
Ballard Partners: Pulte Capital Partners, LLC
Clark Hill, Plc: Michigan Minority Supplier Development Council
The Cormac Group, LLC: Oracle America Inc.
The Duberstein Group Inc.: Mastercard
The Roosevelt Group: Enterprisekc
The Roosevelt Group: Lsu Health Sciences Foundation | | New Lobbying Terminations | | American Physical Therapy Association: American Physical Therapy Association
Potomac South, LLC: Ag-Pro Companies
Potomac South, LLC: Scantech Sciences, Inc
Steptoe & Johnson LLP: National Association Of Convenience Stores
Steptoe & Johnson LLP: Natso, Inc.
Steptoe & Johnson LLP: Society Of Independent Gasoline Marketers Of America | | A message from Obesity Care Advocacy Network: 100 million Americans are living with obesity, a chronic, complex disease that contributes to some of the leading causes of death. 78% of the people who were hospitalized, placed on a ventilator or died from COVID-19 were living with obesity, particularly impacting Black and Latinx people who suffer higher rates of obesity than White Americans.
Healthcare providers know obesity is a preventable and treatable disease, but our laws are behind. Despite a 2013 decision by the American Medical Association to recognize obesity as a complex, chronic disease that requires support to prevent and treat it, Medicare Part D has remained unchanged, preventing millions of people from accessing the full continuum of care for obesity. Join Obesity Care Now to urge the federal government to expand access to obesity care and pass the Treat and Reduce Obesity Act (TROA). Learn More. | | | | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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