| | | | |  | | By Caitlin Oprysko | | Presented by |  | | | With Daniel Lippman FORMER LOBBYIST ELECTED NEXT SENATE GOP CHIEF: Senate Republicans have tapped South Dakota’s John Thune to be their new skipper as the conference prepares to retake control of the chamber under Donald Trump, triumphing over Texas Sen. John Cornyn and Florida Sen. Rick Scott. — Not only does the future Senate majority leader, like almost anyone with nearly three decades in Congress under their belt, come with an expansive network of former staffers who are now in the influence business — Thune also hails from K Street himself. — In between Thune’s stint in the House and his election to the Senate in 2004, he joined the law and lobbying firm Arent Fox (now ArentFox Schiff), and opened his own lobbying shop in South Dakota, the Thune Group. That bullet point on his resume would appear to make Thune the first former lobbyist in nearly a century to serve as Senate majority leader, after Indiana Republican Jim Watson claimed the role in 1929. — Thune’s clients during his brief lobbying career included the dairy farmers lobby the National Milk Producers Federation, the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad, the predecessor to biofuels company Poet, the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association and a South Dakota hospital system, according to disclosures. — Several of Thune’s former colleagues from that time are still in the industry, including Marc Fleischaker, who’s the chair emeritus at ArentFox; Dan Renberg, who co-leads the firm’s lobbying practice; Ilisa Paul, who’s now at Venable ; and Allison Shuren, who’s now at Arnold & Porter. — As PI mentioned earlier, Thune also has a vast alumni network downtown whose stock skyrocketed today — especially as the business community prepares to juice a likely Republican governing trifecta for as many policy wins as possible. We can’t list them all, but here’s a quick rundown. — Nick Rossi, who worked for Thune for eight years including as chief of staff, now lobbies for Apple. Another longtime aide and former chief of staff, Doug Schwartz, is managing partner of HillNorth, while Brendon Plack, another former Thune chief, lobbies for the NFL and yet another, Jafar Karim, lobbies for South Dakota-based Black Hills Corp. — One former Thune tax and trade counsel, Mark Warren is now at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, while another, Paul Poteet, is now with FGS Global. Jane Lucas is now at Alston & Bird, along with another Thune tax and trade adviser Joe Boddicker. — Former legislative director Dave Schwietert is with the Alliance for Automotive Innovation and Josh Shields, a onetime Thune campaign manager (and former chief of staff to DHS nominee Kristi Noem) now lobbies for Poet. Thune’s first legislative director Bob Taylor now runs the Defense Consulting Group, and his first chief of staff Matt Zabel is now Target’s chief corporate affairs officer. Another longtime aide, Adrian Arnakis, lobbies for the Association of American Railroads, and Ryan Taylor is head of 440 Strategies. — There’s also a handful of former Thune spokespeople downtown, including Firehouse Strategies’ Chandler Smith Costello, the Cargo Airline Association’s Bree Manzelli and Edelman’s Rachel Millard. Happy Wednesday and welcome to PI. Send tips: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on X: @caitlinoprysko.
| | | | A message from the Small Business Payments Alliance: Small business owners have a message for Congress: don’t jeopardize our secure and convenient payments system so corporate mega-stores can pad their profits. Businesses around the country rely on credit cards to provide safe, secure payment processing for customers. The Durbin-Marshall credit card bill threatens security, creating a “routing mandate” requiring cards to run on untested networks, potentially leading to fraud. Listen to the voices of real small business owners - oppose the Durbin-Marshall bill. | | | THE TARIFF LOBBYING REDUX: CNBC’s Rebecca Picciotto and Lora Kolodny report that lobbyists are being inundated with calls from companies looking for help escaping Trump’s campaign pledge of across-the-board tariffs on imported goods. — “Absolutely everyone is calling,” Nicole Bivens Collinson of Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg told CNBC. “It is nonstop.” Despite warnings from economists, analysts and industry leaders that universal tariffs will only raise prices for consumers just as pandemic-era inflation wanes, companies are preparing for the worst while also looking to replicate a playbook that worked during Trump’s first administration. — “When Trump unleashed his first set of China tariffs in 2018, securing an exemption became a golden ticket in corporate America, a way to safeguard a company’s China-based supply chains rather than paying the hefty price of relocation,” CNBC writes. — “And to obtain that golden ticket, it paid to know the right people,” according to a 2021 study that found “that applications for Trump’s first-term tariff exemptions were more likely to be approved when they came from lobbying firms whose employees had made political contributions to the Republican Party.” Now, “the race is on to find the right lobbyists to help companies rub shoulders with the right people, to give them an advantage in securing tariff loopholes.” WITHER, THE RESISTANCE: During Trump’s first presidency, “some of his toughest opponents were not elected Democrats but left-leaning nonprofit groups.” And though some of those groups are threatening a rematch, The New York Times’ David Fahrenthold and Ken Vogel write, “this time could be a lot harder.” — “Mr. Trump’s administration could learn from past mistakes and avoid the procedural errors that made its rules easier to challenge. And the higher courts are seeded with judges appointed by Mr. Trump. Another problem: Nonprofits are finding that some supporters are not energized by another round of ‘resistance.’ Instead they have been left exhausted, wondering whether their donations made any difference,” while some fear potential retaliation. — Even so, the “resistance-in-waiting illustrates how nonprofits — even tax-exempt charities — have taken on a larger and more aggressive role in American politics,” with such groups increasingly assuming “the role of surrogates for political parties out of power,” despite laws against advocating for specific candidates. WILDFIRE (LOBBYING) SEASON: “A group of start-ups selling wildfire preparedness and firefighting products announced on Tuesday that they are forming a trade association to lobby the federal and state government for more funding and better procurement policies,” per our Camille von Kaenel. — The launch of the Association of FireTech Innovation “marks the growth of a niche industry as utilities and local governments reckon with record-setting losses from wildfires over the past decade as well as rising risks from climate change.” — “Matt Weiner, the CEO of nonprofit advocacy group Megafire Action, and Bill Clerico, the founder and managing partner of venture capital firm Convective Capital, co-founded the trade group. The first dues-paying members are Pano AI, which uses artificial intelligence and cameras to spot fire starts; Gridware, which sells software identifying grid problems to utilities; Fire Aside, which developed software to digitize defensible space inspections; Muon Tech , which is preparing to launch satellites; and Rain, which develops firefighting drones.” FIRST IN PI — NARRATIVE ADDS A PARTNER: Narrative Strategies has promoted Devin O’Malley to partner — the first expansion of the strategic comms firm’s partnership since 2023. O’Malley joined Narrative in 2021 as a managing director and previously held comms roles in the Trump Treasury Department, DOJ and with former Vice President Mike Pence. — Narrative has also added Alina Serbina as a paid media manager and Grace Hill as a strategic communications associate. Serbina was most recently at Jeffrey J. Kimbell & Associates, and Hill was most recently with Mindshare.
| | | | A message from the Small Business Payments Alliance:   | | | | | — Myechia Minter-Jordan is now CEO of AARP. She previously was president and CEO of CareQuest Institute for Oral Health. — Emma Rindels-Hill has joined Netflix's federal affairs team in D.C. She was previously a federal policy manager at Lyft and is a Kevin McCarthy alum. — Roger-Mark De Souza will be vice president for environment at the Pew Charitable Trusts. He previously was vice president for sustainable markets at Pact. — Sam Cloud is now director of government affairs for the American Exploration and Production Council. He was most recently legislative director for Rep. Pat Fallon (R-Texas) and is a Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.) alum. — Daniel Eriksson will be the new administration director of the Meta Oversight Board. He most recently has been CEO of Transparency International. — Teddy Tanzer will be senior director at Invariant . He previously was senior counsel on the House Energy and Commerce’s data and commerce subcommittee. — CRD Associates has hired Eric Gascho as vice president and executive director of the Coalition for Health Funding. He was previously senior vice president of policy and government affairs at the National Health Council. — Alex Butcher-Nesbitt will be communications director for the Clooney Foundation for Justice. He previously was senior communications manager for NBC News. — Frank Fahrenkopf Jr. has joined the board of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute.
| | None.
| | Equal Rights Now PAC (Super PAC) Restore Roe v. Wade (Super PAC) Working Class Heroes Fund (Hybrid PAC)
| | New Lobbying REGISTRATIONS | | | Amerihealth Caritas Services, LLC (Fka Amerihealth Caritas): Amerihealth Caritas Services, LLC (Fka Amerihealth Caritas) Becker & Poliakoff, P.A.: Aegis Response, Inc. Becker & Poliakoff, P.A.: Bonus Homes Becker & Poliakoff, P.A.: Civic Roundtable, Inc. Becker & Poliakoff, P.A.: Florida League Of Cities, Inc. Becker & Poliakoff, P.A.: Gulf Shellfish Institute Becker & Poliakoff, P.A.: Vast Networks Becker & Poliakoff, P.A.: Vitello Consulting (On Behalf Of Beatbox Beverages) Carlough Solutions, LLC: Parry Labs Freemyer & Associates P.C.: Fagg/Burke Cabins Freemyer & Associates P.C.: Lincoln County, Mt Freemyer & Associates P.C.: Snowshoe Ranch Fti Government Affairs: Black Mountain Land Company Lp Fulcrum Public Affairs LLC: Raynor Holland & Knight LLP: Biomarin Pharmaceutical, Inc. Mercury Public Affairs, LLC: US Cannabis Council Mercury Public Affairs, LLC: US Cannabis Council S-3 Group: Coaltion For Adult Beverage Alternatives Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A.: Renfro Corp. Steve Petersen & Associates: Skylark Services, LLC Thorn Run Partners: Madrigal Pharmaceuticals Ulse Inc. D/B/A Ul Standards & Engagement: Ulse Inc. D/B/A Ul Standards & Engagement Winning Strategies Washington: Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes Foundation Winning Strategies Washington: The Governor'S Prevention Partnership Winning Strategies Washington: Worldbusiness Capital, Inc.
| | New Lobbying Terminations | | | Capitol South, LLC: Alabama Contract Poultry Growers Association Capitol South, LLC: Environmental Working Group Chimes International: Chimes International Fulcrum Public Affairs LLC: Animal Legal Defense Fund Pendulum Strategies, LLC: Nb Affordable Housing
| | | | A message from the Small Business Payments Alliance: We are small businesses asking Congress to oppose the Durbin-Marshall credit card bill. Why? Our businesses earn more when customers use credit cards – they spend more, and we save without the added hassle and expense of counting and securing cash. We also use credit cards for monthly expenses and invest card rewards back into our business. The Durbin-Marshall bill puts credit cards and their benefits at risk. Please don’t add one more challenge to our plate. Oppose Durbin-Marshall. | | | | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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