| | | | |  | | By Caitlin Oprysko | With help from Daniel Lippman COSTELLO SIGNS GOOGLE: Former Rep. Ryan Costello is the latest to join Google’s roster of outside lobbyists. The Pennsylvania Republican and former member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, who left office in 2019, registered to lobby for the search giant earlier this month on issues related to “openness and competition” in online services and devices as well as data privacy, according to newly filed disclosures. — Costello’s firm is the first new lobbying hire for the company since the Justice Department launched the latest in a barrage of lawsuits against it, this one seeking to break up Google’s ad business. Google retains 17 other outside lobbying firms, but a PI analysis of disclosures shows Costello is the only former member of Congress currently on their lobbying payroll. WHEN THE SUN GOES DOWN ON TAX BREAKS: More than a dozen major companies and business trade groups launched a new campaign today to prevent a prized tax provision from Republicans’ 2017 tax overhaul from winding down over the next few years. The Economic Investment Alliance wants lawmakers to permanently let businesses immediately write off 100 percent of capital expenditures, as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act initially allowed. — Full expensing is one of several tax items in the GOP tax bill that are cherished by the business community but have already lapsed or are set to lapse in the coming years. Full expensing began to phase out at the beginning of this year, making the issue somewhat less urgent than language letting businesses immediately expense research and development costs — which expired completely last year and remains atop K Street’s to-do list despite bipartisan support for the idea. — Still, the new coalition wants an extension of permanent full expensing included in the soonest possible legislative vehicle, arguing the policy stimulates economic growth by encouraging business spending right away, which they contend comes especially in handy during economic uncertainty. — “These kind of investments will strengthen American supply chains and reduce dependency on foreign companies, which ultimately benefits American consumers and the greater national economy,” said Robby Wehagen, the Truck Renting and Leasing Association’s vice president of government relations. — Other members of the coalition include the National Association of Manufacturers, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, CTIA, USTelecom, the American Petroleum Institute, American Car Rental Association, Equipment Leasing and Finance Association, as well as telecom companies AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon; rental car companies Avis Budget Group and Hertz and other companies like Altria and Corning. Happy Thursday and welcome to PI. Tips: coprysko@politico.com. Twitter: @caitlinoprysko.
| | | | 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. | | | | | GRILLING SEASON COMES EARLY: “TikTok’s chief executive, Shou Zi Chew, tried to fend of a barrage of congressional criticism on Thursday, but after several hours of often sharp exchanges, many lawmakers still seemed to harbor serious national security concerns about the Chinese-owned tech platform and the threat they said it poses to 150 million Americans using the app,” POLITICO’s Rebecca Kern reports. — “‘TikTok surveils us all and the Chinese Communist Party is able to use this as a tool to manipulate America as a whole,’ House Energy and Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), said during opening statements at the Thursday hearing with Chew. ‘We do not trust TikTok will ever embrace American values. Your platform should be banned.’” — “It’s the first time TikTok’s CEO has testified before Congress and the stakes are high, with the Biden administration demanding that TikTok’s Chinese owner — ByteDance — sell the app or face a ban, even as powerful lawmakers from both parties press for action,” citing national security concerns over the app’s data and whether it could be shared with Beijing. — The chief executive attracted criticism on both sides of the aisle on numerous fronts, ranging from data security to the platform’s algorithm and content moderation practices and their impact on teens and young adults and users’ mental health generally. Several members tied some of their criticism of the app into their broader push for child safety and data privacy legislation, arguing — along with Chew — that the tech industry as a whole falls short on many of the same issues. — “We simply cannot wait any longer to pass the comprehensive privacy legislation,” Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), the panel’s top Democrat, told Chew before grilling him on whether TikTok would commit to following principles in Pallone’s and McMorris Rodgers’ bipartisan privacy bill. ADVOCACY GROUPS PUSH LAWMAKERS TO PULL BACK: Ahead of this morning’ hearing, a coalition of tech and internet advocacy groups urged the heads of the Energy and Commerce Committee to take a holistic view of policies to address social media platforms’ effects on the mental health of young adults, children and teenagers. — “We encourage the Committee to use this opportunity to ask what steps are being put in place to better protect children and teens online,” the groups wrote to McMorris Rodgers and Pallone last night. Lawmakers should also “examine the behavior of additional companies, including Meta and Google, which have profited from spreading harmful content to our children, often knowingly,” they added. — “No parent should have to deal with the horrific reality of losing a child to online bullying, illegal or harmful substances sold over social media, or from falling prey to dangerous online communities,” the groups wrote. Tech Oversight Project, Accountable Tech, the Center for Digital Democracy, Fairplay, Parents Together, Common Sense Media, Tech Transparency Project, Eating Disorders Coalition and Friends of the Earth. INSURANCE FRAUD PROPOSAL SPARKS INDUSTRY OUTCRY: A proposal from the White House to root out abuse and fraud and lower Medicare Advantage payments is being met with “an aggressive campaign by the health insurance industry and its allies,” The New York Times’ Reed Abelson and Margot Sanger-Katz report. — The administration’s plan would “significantly lower payments — by billions of dollars a year — to Medicare Advantage, the private plans that now cover about half of the government’s health program for older Americans” and are lucrative for insurance companies and physician groups that benefit from the program. — “Without reforms, taxpayers will spend about $25 billion next year in ‘excess’ payments to the private plans, according to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, a nonpartisan research group that advises Congress.” — “The proposed changes have unleashed an extensive and noisy opposition front, with lobbyists and insurance executives flooding Capitol Hill to engage in their fiercest fight in years. The largest insurers, including UnitedHealth Group and Humana, are among the most vocal, according to congressional staff, with UnitedHealth’s chief executive pressing his company’s case in person. Doctors’ groups, including the American Medical Association, have also voiced their opposition.” — “The insurers say the new rule would harm the medical care of millions, particularly in vulnerable communities. The change would force the companies to reduce benefits or increase premiums for Medicare beneficiaries, they say, with less money available for doctors to treat conditions like diabetes and depression.” BROWN WHACKS BANK LOBBYISTS AT BANKERS CONFERENCE: Senate Banking Chair Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) took his fight with big banks to the American Bankers Association’s annual Washington conference on Wednesday, warning Wall Street against using this month’s collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank to try and win additional regulatory relief from Washington. — During a Q&A with the trade group’s chief executive, Rob Nichols, Brown told the bankers: “My biggest message is, please don't use this, this crisis to come and lobby Congress for weaker standards.” Brown quickly noted that he didn’t mean to single ABA out, calling such efforts “typical behavior from associations” and pointing to the rail industry’s response to safety proposals following the East Palestine, Ohio derailment. — “I don't think it serves stability and the banking sector’s purpose to come and lobby us for weaker standards,” Brown continued. “I think we continue to pay the price when that happens.” — Nichols took the ribbing in stride, responding that the banking industry shared Brown’s desire for a “less confrontational” relationship. But he sidestepped the senator’s request, adding that “I think we may have different interpretations of what various rules do in terms of safety and soundness and consumer protection.”
| | | SPOTTED at Bobby Van’s for the birthday celebration of Forbes Tate Partners’ Andres Ramirez, and Akin Gump’s Jose Borjon, per a tipster: former White House aide Adrian Saenz, Albert Morales of Latino Decisions, Angela Arboleda of Altria, Arthur Sidney, Doug Usher, Ryan McConaghy, Clare Flannery and Tessa Gould of Forbes Tate, Cristina Antelo of Ferox Strategies David Ferreira of the Center for Responsible Lending, Eloy Martinez of Aristocrat Technologies, Erin Fernandez of the Children’s Hospital Association, Hector Sanchez Barba of Mi Familia Vota, Jeff Mendelsohn of Coalition Strategy Group, Jose Luis Davila of Georgetown University Law Center, Kristian Ramos of Autonomy Strategies, Lauren Crawford Shaver of FTI Consulting, Leo Muñoz of Comcast, Luis Miranda of DHS and Noel Perez of General Motors. — And at a reception hosted by the Entertainment Software Association to honor the new board of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute’s alumni association and the group’s first-ever alum to be elected to Congress, Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-Ariz.), per a tipster: Juan and Laura Ciscomani, Marisol Samayoa of Sen. Mark Kelly’s (D-Ariz.) office, Miguel Ayala of Rep. Steven Horsford’s (D-Nev.) office, Ruby Robles of Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s (D-Mass.) office, Tony Hernandez of Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto’s (D-Nev.) office, Marco Davis of CHCI, Robert Harris of Apple, Javier Martinez of DaVita, Josue Ambriz of the Federal Aviation Administration, Jasmin Chavez of the White House Hispanic Initiative, Edward Carlson of the Commerce Department and Adriana Barajas of the Entertainment Software Association. — And at an NRSC fundraiser last night hosted by Akin Gump: Sens. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) and Mike Rounds (R-S.D.); Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Lamar Smith, Hunter Bates, Brendan Dunn, Geoff Verhoff, Zach Rudisill, Anna Abram and Sam Olswanger of Akin Gump; John Simmons of Roosevelt Group, Brendon Plack of the NFL, Brian Johnson of Veterans Guardian, Paul Scolese of Cox Enterprises, Paul Jackson of Business Roundtable, Bryan Wood of BlackRock, David Cobb of HDR, Jeremy Wiley of CoreCivic, Raymond Paul of Koch Industries and Sydney Fincher of Aflac. — Jen Daulby has joined Ogilvy Government Relations as a principal. She was most recently head of government affairs and chief of staff at government tech startup Indigov and is a Consumer Brands Association, Rodney Davis and Monsanto alum. — Scott Mackenzie has joined Winning Strategies Washington as a principal. He was previously legislative director for Rep. Dan Webster (R-Fla.) and is a John Culberson alum. — Open Society Foundations has added Leigh Chapman as director of pro-democracy alliance and structural reform. She was previously acting secretary of state of Pennsylvania. — Former Republican Governors Association executive director Dave Rexrode is joining Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s Spirit of Virginia PAC as a senior adviser and chair. Rexrode previously served as a top adviser to the state GOP and to former Gov. Bob McDonnell. — RJ Bee is now director of operations for the Global Situation Room. He previously was senior vice president of operations at Hattaway Communications and CEO of Osiris Media.
| | | None.
| | | Actors' Equity Association Political Action Committee (PAC)
Al-Corn PAC (PAC)
Standardbred Owners Association of New York PAC (PAC)
| | New Lobbying REGISTRATIONS | | Cassidy & Associates, Inc.: Southern Company Services, Inc
Corrigan & USsery LLC: Point Blank Enterprises Inc.
Federal Hall Policy Advisors, LLC: Financial Accounting Foundation
Federal Policy Group, LLC: Genie Energy, Ltd
Ius Impact LLC: Council For Investor Rights And Corporate Accountability
Lne Group: Central Ohio Fire Museum And Learning Center
Lne Group: Motion Project Foundation
Ryan Costello Strategies: Google Client Services, LLC
| | New Lobbying Terminations | | Rubin, Turnbull & Associates: Indian Creek Village
Rubin, Turnbull & Associates: Town Of Surfside
University Hospital-Newark, New Jersey: University Hospital-Newark, New Jersey
University Hospital-Newark, New Jersey: University Hospital-Newark, New Jersey
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