| | | | |  | | By Caitlin Oprysko | Presented by Natural Allies for a Clean Energy Future | With Daniel Lippman BUSINESS GROUPS PUSH FOR DISPERSION OF TRUCKING CONVOY: The heads of some of Washington's most powerful trade groups demanded a resolution to protests from a convoy of truck drivers that has taken over Canada's capital and choked off access to a major thoroughfare for trade between the U.S. and Canada, further upending already-strained supply chains. — "We respectfully urge the Canadian government to act swiftly to address the disruption to the flow of trade and its impact on manufacturers and other businesses on both sides of the border," the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Business Roundtable and the National Association of Manufacturers said in a statement Thursday night, calling on the Biden administration to "continue efforts to resolve these blockages at the border." — "The disruptions we are seeing at the U.S.-Canada border — at the Detroit-Windsor Ambassador Bridge and at other crossings — are adding to the significant supply chain strains on manufacturers and other businesses in the United States," the groups said, adding that though "the business community is rolling up its sleeves to find workarounds and keep facilities up and running … we are already seeing some production cuts, shift reductions, and temporary plant closures." — Canada's largest province this morning declared a state of emergency over the disruption, which began more than two weeks ago as a protest of vaccine requirements for truckers crossing the border, and has morphed into demonstrations over Covid restrictions more broadly. The White House said earlier this week that it is "very focused" on the protests, while CNN reported Thursday that Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg have urged their Canadian counterparts to "use Federal powers to resolve this situation at our joint border," while offering the "full support" of DHS and DOT. — Trade groups that represent the trucking industry have also called for an end to the demonstrations, with American Trucking Associations President and CEO Chris Spear saying Thursday that his organization "strongly opposes any protest activities that disrupt public safety and compromise the economic and national security of the United States." — The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, which represents tens of thousands of independent truck drivers in both the U.S. and Canada, asked President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in letters earlier this week to exempt truckers from what they called an "arbitrary vaccine mandate" in favor of "less intrusive alternatives that can enhance public safety and foster trade between the U.S. and Canada." Still, the trade group distanced itself from the protesters' blockade of the key border crossing, with an executive denouncing "any disturbance or destruction" in an interview with POLITICO. Happy Friday and welcome to PI. Send tips: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on Twitter: @caitlinoprysko.
| | | | A message from Natural Allies for a Clean Energy Future: Natural gas is accelerating our transition to a clean energy future. The pairing of natural gas with renewable sources has the potential to reduce carbon emissions by 78%. When available, renewables like solar and wind, eliminate emissions. When these sources are not available, natural gas fills gaps, ensuring affordability and reliability for all Americans while further lowering emissions. Natural gas is accelerating America's clean energy future. Learn more at www.naturalalliesforcleanenergy.org | | | ZOMBIE PACS ATTACK: "A POLITICO analysis found accounts associated with eight late politicians that still have money in the bank, some with hundreds of thousands of dollars, or debts that, according to Federal Election Commission records, remain unpaid," our Hailey Fuchs reports. "These zombie PACs and campaign committees have been paying for such things as communications consulting, campaign contributions, car rentals, or fees for former associates. All of it is quite legal." — "The ability of the committees of dead politicians to continue paying out money highlights how donations from political supporters can find their way to entities, causes, and individuals far removed from the candidate's election. Some lawmakers have introduced legislation to limit the time in which and how such money can be spent. But, in the absence of congressional action, experts said the money in a dead politician's campaign committee can be used with very few guardrails." — In one example Hailey highlights, "the campaign account for former Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), who died in 2020, still has $337,995.24 in it as of the end of 2021; while there is $62,610.75 in Lewis' leadership PAC, House Majority Fund, as of Jan. 31. … Expenditures made by Lewis' campaign since his death include $14,000 for communications consulting, along with tens of thousands on various consultants to help wind down the campaign, according to FEC records. The committee also transferred $2.5 million to the John and Lillian Miles Lewis Foundation along with $100,000 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. A number of former staffers also appeared to have been paid by the committee." NFL JOINS THE RANKS OF CRYPTO LOBBYISTS: "The National Football League lobbied the Securities and Exchange Commission on 'issues related to blockchain technology' from July through December last year," disclosures reviewed by CNBC's Brian Schwartz and MacKenzie Sigalos show. — "Records indicate that the lobbying campaign represents the first time the NFL has attempted to influence the government agency that oversees financial securities. The league spent over $600,000 on lobbying both chambers of Congress and various government agencies, including the SEC, during the second half of 2021." — "The NFL, run by Commissioner Roger Goodell, is trying to determine whether crypto can be an integral part of the league's business. … At last year's NFL owner meetings in New York, officials told CNBC that crypto-related deals are still being examined." Last fall, the league and its players union teamed up with Dapper Labs to "'create exclusive digital video highlight NFTs (non-fungible tokens) for NFL fans,' according to a September announcement. — "Numerous NFL stars have already become involvedwith crypto, including retiring quarterback Tom Brady, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and star Rams wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr.," while digital currencies are "set to be heavily advertised during Sunday's Super Bowl between the Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals. Various cryptocurrency businesses are said to have spent millions to promote their products."
| | | | STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president's ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today. | | | | | WHAT THE UKRAINE LOBBY WAS UP TO LAST YEAR: "Firms working for Ukrainian interests have inundated congressional offices, think tanks, and journalists with more than 10,000 messages and meetings in 2021, according to an analysis of Foreign Agents Registration Act, or FARA, filings for a forthcoming report from the Quincy Institute," the think tank's Ben Freeman writes today. "To put this extraordinary campaign into perspective, the Saudi lobby — known for being one of the largest foreign lobbies in D.C. — reported 2,834 contacts, barely a quarter of what Ukraine's agents have done." — Some more data points from Freeman's analysis of the Ukraine lobby's FARA filings: Much of Ukraine's lobbying has centered around attempts to block the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. "Congress has been the primary target of Ukraine's agents, with over 300 House and Senate staff and members of Congress on the receiving end of more than 8,000 emails, phone calls, and meetings with Ukraine's lobbyists. Agents representing the Ukrainian Federation of Employers of the Oil and Gas Industry , or UFEOGI, the largest association of energy companies in Ukraine, have flooded Capitol Hill with headlines like 'Ukrainians call on U.S. Senate to sanction Putin's pipeline weapon,' and others claiming 'Moscow regards concessions as a sign of weakness.'" — "The lobbyists seem to have found a friendly ear in Senate Republicans, in particular Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX)," the former boss of Yorktown Solutions' Daniel Vajdich , who represents the UFEOGI. Outreach was also "focused intently on senators who co-sponsored 2020 legislation to block completion of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, including Cruz; John Barrasso (R-Wyo.); Tom Cotton, (R-Ark.); Ron Johnson, (R-Wis.); and Jeanne Shaheen , (D-N.H.). These senators, all members of the Foreign Relations Committee who had previously taken tough stances toward Russia, were contacted at least 100 times in 2021 and, on multiple occasions, staffers met directly with lobbyists." — According to Freeman, "think tanks were contacted more than 1,100 times by Ukraine's agents, and more than half of these were directed at one in particular: the Atlantic Council. … After the Atlantic Council, the hawkish Heritage Foundation was the second most contacted think tank by Ukraine's agents." ANNALS OF CAMPAIGN FINANCE: "Three former executives of a U.S. defense contractor in Hawaii have been indicted on federal charges of making unlawful campaign contributions to Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and a political action committee that supported her, according to court documents," The Washington Post's Spencer S. Hsu and Emily Davies report. — "Martin Kao, 48, Clifford Chen, 48, and Lawrence 'Kahele' Lum Kee , 52, were formerly the chief executive, chief financial officer and accountant, respectively, for a defense contractor prohibited under federal law from making contributions in federal elections, according to a five-count indictment in federal court in Washington. The company was Martin Defense Group, formerly known as Navatek, the company has confirmed." — "A 15-page indictment charges the Honolulu men with conspiracy, violating the contractor ban, and making conduit contributions in the name of another after they allegedly created and used a shell company called the Society of Young Women Scientist and Engineers in 2019 to funnel $150,000 to the 1820 PAC, which backed Collins. The men also allegedly used family members to contribute $52,000 to Collins's campaign directly and reimbursing themselves with funds from their employer, according to charging papers."
| | | | A message from Natural Allies for a Clean Energy Future:   | | | | | | — Andrew Postal will be communications director for the Climate Action Campaign, Morning Transportation reports. He's currently deputy communications director for House Transportation and Infrastructure Democrats. — Clayton Keir is now an associate at Ballard Spahr LLP in their government relations and public policy group focusing on election and administrative law. Keir, a Penn Law grad, is an alum of Booz Allen Hamilton and a former State Department contractor. — Trevor Kincaid is now director of corporate communications at Apple , focused on privacy issues. He most recently was head of communications for global partnerships and multilateral engagement at the International Finance Corporation. — SKDK is announcing a slate of new hires: Ryan Rose will be political creative director and previously was a freelance producer and assistant director. Andy Yazdani will be an art director and previously was an art director for the Community Associations Institute. Mackey Reed will be a senior vice president and is a Mike Bloomberg 2020 alum. Lucy Macintosh will be a vice president and previously was associate director of campaigns at the Hub Project. Ileana Astorga will be a senior associate and previously was a legislative correspondent for Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.).
| | | Arizona Nevada 2022 Victory Fund (Sens. Mark Kelly, Catherine Cortez Masto)
Beasley Victory Fund (Rep. Cheri Beasley, North Carolina Democratic Party - Federal)
Friends of GOP Winning Women 2022 (Monica for Congress, Kiggans for Congress, Amanda Adkins for Congress, Scheller for Congress, Esther for Congress, Team Morgan Ortagus, Tanya for Arizona, Reps. Michelle Steele, Jaime Herrera Beutler, Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Beth Van Duyne, Young Kim, Ashley Hinson, Stephanie Bice, Nancy Mace, Nicole Malliotakis, Maria Salazar)
Frontline Victory Fund (Reps. Abigail Spanberger, Dana Titus, Susan Wild, Andy Kim, Tom Malinowski, Blue Momentum PAC)
Senate GOP Winning Women Victory Committee (Britt for Alabama Inc, Smiley for Washington Inc., Jane Timken for Ohio)
| | | | DON'T MISS CONGRESS MINUTES: Need to follow the action on Capitol Hill blow-by-blow? Check out Minutes, POLITICO's new platform that delivers the latest exclusives, twists and much more in real time. Get it on your desktop or download the POLITICO mobile app for iOS or Android. CHECK OUT CONGRESS MINUTES HERE. | | | | | | | | AMERICA 21 PAC (Super PAC)
CONNECTICUT PATRIOTS PAC (Super PAC)
Crypto Patriots (Super PAC)
Mainstream Democrats PAC (Super PAC)
Marc for Oregon (Hybrid PAC)
Minnick Family Committee (Super PAC)
Reagan Project PAC (Hybrid PAC)
Red Six Aerospace Inc. PAC (PAC)
Republican Accountability PAC (Super PAC)
| | New Lobbying Registrations | | Forbes-Tate: Weber Grills
Impact Management Group: Bell Legal Group
Lester Health Law Pllc: Carepathrx
Riverside Strategic Solutions, LLC: Novoaglobal, Inc
The Summerill Law Firm: Pamlico County Sheriff'S Office
Venable LLP: Done
| | New Lobbying Terminations | | Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld: Pebble Limited Partnership
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld: Texas Southern University
Atlas Advocacy: City Of Ontario, California
Earth & Water Group: Bogard Agriculture Consultancy Group LLC
Mcm Strategies: Ethiopian American Civic Council
Powers Pyles Sutter & Verville, P.C.: Association Of Rehabilitation Nurses
The Ingram Group LLC: Guardion Health Sciences, Inc.
| | | | A message from Natural Allies for a Clean Energy Future: Across the country and across our economy, America is building a vital and exciting clean energy future. Natural gas is accelerating this transition and can help us rapidly achieve our climate goals. By partnering with renewable energy sources, natural gas has the potential to reduce carbon emissions by 78%. On its own, natural gas emits 50% less carbon compared to coal, making it a lower-carbon alternative that fills gaps and prevents disruptions whenever sources like solar and wind are unavailable. Existing interstate pipelines for natural gas also offer versatility for transporting hydrogen, renewable natural gas and other zero-carbon fuels of the future. Investing in natural gas infrastructure equips us for continued innovation while ensuring an affordable, reliable transition for all Americans. Natural gas is accelerating our clean energy future. Learn more at www.naturalalliesforcleanenergy.org | | | | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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