With Daniel Lippman HOW THE IFA TANKED A BIDEN LABOR NOMINEE: President Joe Biden reached a new milestone in his administration last night as a trio of Senate Democrats made Labor Department nominee David Weil the first of Biden's presidency to fail on the Senate floor . Weil, who'd been nominated to assume his old role as head of the department's Wage and Hour Division, faced steep opposition from Republicans and the business community, which cheered Weil's defeat Wednesday night and this morning. — The nearly yearlong opposition campaign from the business community was spearheaded by the International Franchise Association , which blasted Weil as the "intellectual godfather" of so-called joint employer rules that seek to hold corporations accountable for franchisees' labor practices. The coalition of opposing groups also included state and local chambers of commerce, the Associated Builders and Contractors and its local chapters, the National Restaurant Association and its local chapters, oil and gas groups and the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors . Weil was also an architect of an Obama-era mandatory overtime rule that was later reversed and has criticized gig companies' independent contractor model. — In the evenly divided Senate, the trade group homed in on three key Democrats: West Virginia's Joe Manchin and Arizona's Kyrsten Sinema , who have been key swing votes throughout the last year, and Arizona's junior senator, Mark Kelly — the lawmakers whose votes against Weil ultimately doomed his nomination last night. — Matt Haller , IFA's president, said in an interview that the focus on Kelly had less to do with what is expected to be a close reelection fight this fall, and said IFA sought to "educate" lawmakers about Weil "and his past history in this role, and what we know he will do if he's ultimately confirmed by the Senate." — That advocacy centered on the PRO Act, a Democratic labor overhaul that business lobbies oppose and that has languished without sufficient support in the Senate. "Basically, the pivot we made was, OK, PRO Act is dead," Haller told PI. Instead, he said, business lobbies like IFA made the case that "David Weil is the PRO Act personified, and is only going to seek to enact pieces of the PRO Act through his role at the Labor Department if he's ultimately confirmed." — Over the last few days, when Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer filed cloture on Weil's nomination, a move that concerned Weil's critics, Haller said IFA was sending "a steady drumbeat of CEOs and franchisees" virtually into Manchin's, Sinema's and Kelly's offices. — Haller added that although this was the first nomination fight the trade group had taken on, it hopes to use data that he said shows "that franchise jobs actually pay higher wages and provide better benefits than non franchise jobs and other non-franchise small businesses" and hesitation about the PRO Act to defeat similar bills viewed as threats to franchises, including a labor bill in California. Good afternoon and welcome to PI. Tips: coprysko@politico.com. Twitter: @caitlinoprysko.
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FEC FINES DNC, CLINTON CAMPAIGN OVER DOSSIER SPENDING DISCLOSURE: "The Federal Election Commission has agreed to a fine of over $100,000 against the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign over an investigation into alleged misreporting of spending related to the now-infamous Steele dossier," POLITICO's Zach Montellaro reports. — "The FEC fined both organizations after a pair of now years-old complaints — one from the Campaign Legal Center and another from the conservative Coolidge Reagan Foundation — alleged that the party and campaign reported payments to the powerhouse Democratic law firm Perkins Coie as legal expenses, when in actuality some of the money was earmarked for 'paying Fusion GPS through Perkins Coie to conduct opposition research on Donald Trump,' as the Campaign Legal Center's original complaint read." — "The DNC and the Clinton campaign collectively agreed to pay $113,000 in fines, according to separate conciliation agreements the agency made with both parties. The DNC will pay $105,000 and the Clinton campaign $8,000," though the agreements note neither party conceded wrongdoing but would not contest the agency's finding of "probable cause to believe" that both the campaign and national party "misreport[ed] the purpose of certain disbursements" when they said certain payments to Perkins Coie were for legal fees. — The agency also said it had "dismissed allegations against Marc Elias — who was then an attorney at Perkins Coie and is now the namesake of his own firm — and the law firm itself, Fusion GPS and Christopher Steele himself, and other allegations against the DNC over impermissible contributions from foreign nationals." PASSWORD PROTECTED: After POLITICO reported earlier this month that the U.S.-Russia Business Council had quietly removed two sanctioned Russian financial institutions, Vnesheconombank and VTB , from its list of members on its website, the business group's members, Board of Directors, and Executive Committee are no longer accessible to the public, our Hailey Fuchs flags. (Our inboxes and DMs are open if anyone knows the login info!) NOT SO CONNECTED: "A lobbying group funded by Amazon and Google claims to represent thousands of U.S. small businesses as it opposes legislation that would clamp down on the tech industry's giants. But dozens of those small businesses say they've never heard of the Connected Commerce Council," POLITICO's Emily Birnbaum reports. — "The four-year-old group listed about 5,000 small businesses in its membership directory before it removed that document from its website late last month. When POLITICO contacted 70 of those businesses, 61 said they were not members of the group and many added that they were not familiar with the organization." — "The council, which goes by the nickname 3C, claims on its website to represent 'thousands of digitally empowered small business members from across the country.' Rob Retzlaff, the executive director of 3C, said all of the businesses listed as members have signed up for at least one of 3C's campaigns, such as in-person events, email lists or the group's small business resources." — "Lobbyists for Amazon and Google have mobilized an army of small businesses as well as users who rely on their platforms to discourage Congress from passing bills aimed at curtailing their power. Hundreds of small business owners have signed petitions, met with members of Congress or contacted congressional offices to share their concerns. 3C has played a significant role in that advocacy, facilitating dozens of meetings with small business owners and their representatives in Congress." SPOTTED at a retirement party at Proper 21 on Wednesday night for Barry Trimble, who served for more than two decades as political director at the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, according to a PI tipster: House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, David Tully of the American Academy of Family Physicians, Dan Jones from the Alliance for Community Health Plans, Tom Wharton from Capitol Hill Consulting Group, Greg Englert from Highmark, Tracy Spicer from Avenue Solutions, and former and current BCBSA employees including Justine Handelman, Phil Hayes, Alissa Fox, Anshu Chodri, Kathy Didawick, Constance Blackwell, Jennifer Towey and Keysha Brooks-Coley. SPOTTED at Platinum Advisors' welcome party for Billy Tranghese at Sonoma on Wednesday night, according to a PI tipster: Reps. Richard Neal (D-Mass.) and Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), Erik Huey of Platinum Advisors, Joe Crowley of Squire Patton Boggs, Irish Ambassador Daniel Mulhall, Yebbie Watkins of Jim Clyburn's office, Dave Grimaldi of the Blockchain Association, Danny Sepulveda of Wiley, Lyndon Boozer of Capitol Counsel, Kevin McDonald, George Shevlin of American International Group, Rashan Colbert of Cory Booker's office, Martha Miller and Tim Hysom of Jake Auchincloss' office.
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— David Norquist will be the next president and CEO of the National Defense Industrial Association. He previously was a deputy secretary of Defense from 2019 to 2021. — Aaron Cutler has been named the practice area leader for the Government Relations and Public Affairs practice at Hogan Lovells, succeeding Ivan Zapien. Cutler is an Eric Cantor and Fred Upton alum. — Jean Cantrell has joined State and Federal Communications as a senior adviser. Cantrell most recently finished a two-year assignment with the Commission on Presidential Debates and is a Dun & Bradstreet, Circuit City, HP and Philips Healthcare alum. — Nicole Nason is joining Boeing as vice president of federal affairs for commercial aviation, sustainability and corporate policy. She most recently served as chief safety officer and head of external affairs at Cavnue, an infrastructure company supporting autonomous vehicles, and is a Federal Highway Administration and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration alum. — Mike Beavin is joining Boundary Stone Partners as a senior vice president focused on growing the firm's space policy practice. He was most recently a staffer on the House Science Committee and is a NASA and National Space Council alum. — Andrew Williams has joined the New York League of Conservation Voters as deputy state policy director, and Nia Rhodes Jackson has joined as senior director of programs. Williams previously worked in the labor movement for the North Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters as their New York state political coordinator, and Rhodes Jackson is the former director of visitor experience for a park conservancy and has worked in environmental education for multiple organizations. — Lindsey Curnutte is now deputy communications director for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' reelection campaign. She most recently was press secretary for Heritage Action for America and is also a Ken Buck alum. — Husch Blackwell Strategies is adding Cooper Ehrendreich and Javon Knight as policy associates. Ehrendreich most recently was director of government affairs for the Railway Engineering Maintenance-Suppliers Association. Knight most recently was a Congressional Black Caucus Foundation fellow and legislative assistant for Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.). — Erik Telford is joining the startup Commonwealth Group Services as a senior vice president. He most recently was at Stand Together and the Koch network. — Jay Campbell is joining the Independent Brewing Federation. He most recently has been senior legislative assistant for Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas).
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