WIN SOME, LOSE SOME: The bicameral compromise version of the National Defense Authorization Act filed this weekend includes language that aims to block defense contractors from retaining lobbyists or lobbying firms that also represent companies linked to the Chinese military. — The provision is similar to a bill introduced by Secretary of State-designate Marco Rubio earlier this year to squeeze K Street by forcing companies to choose between securing a contract with the Pentagon or hiring firms whose other clients pose what Rubio said at the time is a “clear conflict of interest.” — The NDAA language is ultimately narrower than Rubio’s bill, which named a number of federal government blacklists that would subject an organization’s lobbyists to the measure. Still, the Pentagon’s list of Chinese military-linked companies includes many names that should be familiar to PI readers, including genomics firm BGI, telecom companies Huawei and Hikvision, dronemaker DJI, and lidar maker Hesai. Several of those firms are fighting the Pentagon’s designation in court. — It’s not all bad news for BGI, however. The "BIOSECURE Act," which would block BGI and other Chinese biotech companies from holding federal contracts or working with any federally funded entities, did not make it into the bill despite its overwhelming House passage earlier this fall. Our Ben Leonard reported last month that despite personal lobbying by House Speaker Mike Johnson, the bill faced a major roadblock in the form of Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.). REALTORS’ DARK MONEY: “The National Association of Realtors — the largest trade organization in the United States — wields substantial influence over the American housing industry. To help hold on to that power, it also runs one of the biggest political action committees,” which is “scrupulously bipartisan,” The New York Times’ Debra Kamin writes. — “But about five years ago, N.A.R. quietly created an affiliate nonprofit called the American Property Owners Alliance, and its spending tells a different story. While the PAC plays it down the middle, the American Property Owners Alliance appears to have taken a side.” — “In an examination of the American Property Owners Alliance’s tax records, The New York Times found that the nonprofit — which is solely funded by N.A.R. — distributed $12.8 million in grants in its first four years. Nearly $10 million went to Republican-aligned super PACs and groups with conservative agendas,” hardly any of which list housing issues among their priorities. — Experts said that contribution history “appears politically motivated and out of step with the American Property Owners Alliance’s stated mission as a nonpartisan nonprofit,” a notion the group denies, but it “also raises questions about N.A.R.’s reason for establishing the American Property Owners Alliance.” PINCHUK EXTENDS CONTRACT WITH CONWAY: Longtime Donald Trump aide Kellyanne Conway has extended her contract to lobby for the personal foundation of Ukrainian billionaire Victor Pinchuk until the end of the year, according to documents filed with the Justice Department last month. — Conway, one of the architects of Trump’s 2016 campaign and a former top aide in his White House, first registered to represent Pinchuk’s foundation beginning in July to advocate on “the importance of Ukraine to the rules-based order and the protection of democratic principles” and raise awareness among U.S. “decision makers” of Russia’s “illegal war of aggression,” according to a filing. While Pinchuk was a private citizen, Conway said in the filing, the “principal beneficiary” of her work would be the Ukrainian government. — Conway was also tasked with working to get U.S. lawmakers and power players to attend or participate in a September security conference organized by Pinchuk. The conference did indeed include a number of high-profile Americans, including former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a bipartisan delegation of House members who traveled on the conference’s dime and White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan. — Even Trump himself filmed a congratulatory video message complimenting Conway’s work for the foundation and vowing “peace” between Russia and Ukraine “before I ever enter the White House.” — The $50,000-per-month agreement was set to end on Nov. 14 unless extended, and a copy of the extension filed with DOJ shows Conway signed it on Nov. 15 — a little more than a week after Trump became president-elect. CONFLICTED PICKS: New reporting over the past few days drills down on the ethical quagmires facing half a dozen of Trump’s Cabinet and administration picks. This morning, the Wall Street Journal’s Dominique Mosbergen reports that the lightly regulated supplement industry “was thrilled about the incoming administration’s unusual embrace of its products and had found an ideal ally in Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s choice for Health and Human Services secretary.” — In addition to Kennedy’s support for the industry, Trump’s pick for surgeon general, Janette Nesheiwat, “sells her own line of vitamins. Kash Patel, Trump’s choice to lead the Federal Bureau of Investigation, recommended pills on Truth Social in February that he said could ‘rid your body of the harms’ from Covid-19 vaccines.” And “Mehmet Oz, the TV personality whom Trump named to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, promotes supplements sold by online retailer iHerb.” — Over the weekend, our Hailey Fuchs noted that some of the same corporate clients Pam Bondi’s lobbying firm represents “are squaring off against the Department of Justice she’s poised to lead. And corporate interests are cautiously optimistic that her selection will shepherd in an administration more friendly to their interests than” that of Biden’s presidency. — Bondi has yet to resign from Ballard Partners, which has received thousands of dollars this year from companies like UnitedHealthcare and TikTok with business before DOJ. Her confirmation as attorney general would “pose a myriad of ethical questions about what kind of access she will grant her firm and whether she will recuse herself from issues involving Ballard.” THE KOCHS’ CHEVRON CRUSADE: This summer’s Supreme Court ruling that struck down the decades-old precedent known as Chevron deference was the culmination of a yearslong push by a network of groups related to or funded by the billionaire Charles Koch and his late brother David to chip away at federal regulatory power, The Washington Post’s Justin Jouvenal, Jon Swaine and Ann E. Marimow write in a new deep dive. — “Koch-funded charities pumped nearly $18 million in recent years into the New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA) and Cause of Action, the public interest firms that brought the lawsuits” that ultimately resulted in Chevron getting overturned. — “The battle against Chevron was often publicly portrayed as the saga of a group of scrappy fishermen taking on the federal government. Behind the scene, NCLA and Cause of Action drove the case, identifying the regulation to challenge, recruiting plaintiffs and drafting one lawsuit before the regulations went into effect.”
| 
No comments:
Post a Comment