By Caitlin Oprysko

Presented by Humane Society Legislative Fund

With Marcia Brown, Daniel Lippman

MEET ME AT MIDNIGHT: K Street is seeing a flurry of activity as time dwindles for Congress to avoid what lobbyists are warning could potentially be a drawn out government shutdown this weekend, sucking up all of the oxygen in Washington even as lobbyists admit there’s not much they can do except prepare their clients to be thrown into a state of paralysis.

— “The truth is that there are very few people who actually want to shut down the government,” said Neil Bradley, the chief policy officer at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “It's a very small group — and I'm not sure if they're going to be persuaded.” That resignation echoed elsewhere on K Street, where firms rolled out resources aimed at keeping clients apprised of how they’ll be impacted by a shutdown in the hopes of lessening the blow.

— “We are focused on trying to provide our clients with information on the practical effects of a shutdown for them so that they can better inform themselves with regard to their investment decisions and business programs,” K&L Gates partner Matt Leggett told PI.

— K&L Gates has formed a government shutdown task force staffed by Leggett and others with a broad range of experience across the federal government who’ve dealt with previous shutdowns. The task force will focus on gaming out all of the potential implications for clients, which range from delays in federal rulemakings to disruptions in issuing grants, loans, visas, permits and more.

— Bradley said in an interview that the Chamber has sought to emphasize those disruptions in discussions on the Hill, and the Chamber has flown in more than 1,000 business leaders from 20 different states to help make that case to lawmakers.

— “In the past, leaders have thought that the way out of a shutdown is just to let the pressure build,” he told PI. “It would be nice if it doesn't take a month for the pressure to build. And so I think beginning to highlight sooner … the negative consequences of a shutdown is helpful.”

— Other business groups are taking a similar approach, with the U.S. Travel Association releasing an analysis last week that pegged the potential hit to the travel economy at $140 million for each day of a shutdown.

— K Street has a trove of recent shutdown experience to draw from in its preparations, especially after the last, partial shutdown in 2018 and 2019 became the longest ever. An additional X factor this time around, though, is the level of activity surrounding the implementation of a handful of major pieces of legislation passed recently — including the CHIPS and Science Act, Inflation Reduction Act and bipartisan infrastructure law.

— Add to that major legislation like the farm bill, NDAA and FAA reauthorization that is still being negotiated on the Hill, as well as the ultimate funding deal that will reopen the government. “Once you're in a shutdown, how do you get out of it?” said Leggett. “What policy changes may occur in that context that might impact clients coming out of a shutdown — potentially in a very real way?”

— Congress’ massive to-do list also has frustration bubbling. “Everything else is gonna get done, and we're gonna come back and … everybody’s going to be elbowing one another, right, try to get stuff done,” BGR Group’s Dave Urban told PI. “I think clients are looking for not just what they're worried about, but they're also [looking for] what opportunities there might be.”

— “It’s beyond frustrating — our job is to help clients petition the government for important policy changes, and there are too many members who don’t want to govern,” said one longtime lobbyist, who was granted anonymity to speak more candidly. “A leadership vacuum has gotten us here, and if we can’t even keep the lights on how can we expect anyone to have a thoughtful policy debate?”

— Lobbyists were reluctant to issue any predictions as to the duration of a shutdown, even as they acknowledged there are few indicators it would be short-lived. “This is the ‘Seinfeld’ of government shutdowns,” Bradley said. “It's … about people who are really focused on themselves, but that's ultimately about nothing.”

— Bradley, who warned in a memo to Chamber members last week that there is “no clear path” out of a likely shutdown, argued that the lack of a concrete objective only makes it all the more difficult to persuade holdouts that “there are other better strategies to try to achieve” their goal.

— “It doesn't feel like business as usual this time around,” Leggett said. Though, he added, “I think we probably said that heading into every shutdown.”

Happy Thursday and welcome to PI. Send tips: [email protected]. And be sure to follow me on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter: @caitlinoprysko.

A message from Humane Society Legislative Fund:

A monumental threat is facing American farmers. The “Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression” (EATS) Act, H.R. 4417/S. 2019—or any version of it—could have devastating consequences for farmers by picking winners and losers in the marketplace and benefiting foreign-owned conglomerates. Take Action: Tell Congress not to poison the Farm Bill with the EATS Act or anything like it. https://hslf.org/farmers

BGR ADDS STATE LOBBYING VET: Labriah Lee Holt is joining the state and local advocacy practice at BGR Group as a vice president, as more key advocacy moves to the state level. Holt will be based in Atlanta and will focus on outreach to state and local officials like governors, attorneys general, state legislators and mayors in addition to Democratic outreach across all levels of government.

— Holt was most recently at Microsoft, where she was a director of government affairs overseeing AI, cloud, cybersecurity, broadband, privacy issues and more across the Southeast.

NEW TERMINATIONS: Medical data company Sync.MD has terminated Williams and Co. lobbyist Liz Williams, after news reports that the wife of Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.) said in a divorce filing that Williams has been in an ongoing affair with the congressman, Daniel reports.

— Williams started working for the Sync.MD in the second quarter of 2022, less than nine months after Duncan’s office issued a press release in June 2021 welcoming the company’s headquarters to his district. Sync.MD executives have given Duncan more than $4,000 in the last several years — one of only a few members of Congress to whom company employees have given.

— The company paid Williams $50,000 in 2022 and another $40,000 this year, disclosure filings show. Williams’ client roster has not included any other medical data companies, but does include Altria, Delta, General Atomics and several other smaller clients.

— “We engaged Ms. Liz Williams in 2022 having originally been introduced in 2018 by a former Member of Congress,” a Sync.MD spokesperson said in a statement. “Representative Duncan did not connect Sync.MD with Ms. Williams and we made the decision to hire her based on her expertise with small businesses and experience with the Department of Defense. We appreciate her assistance and wish her well. Our top priority and foremost objective is the continued growth and expansion of Sync.MD.” The spokesperson declined to name the former member.

— Duncan, a Duncan representative and Williams did not respond to requests for comment, although yesterday afternoon Duncan posted on X: “My family is dealing with a difficult and private moment and I’m not going to comment on a deeply personal matter.”

ICYMI — MENENDEZ BLOCKED FARA BILL: “Sen. Bob Menendez, charged last week with secretly aiding the Egyptian government in exchange for bribes, single-handedly blocked passage of bipartisan legislation in 2020 that would have strengthened the law regulating foreign influence and lobbying in Washington,” NBC News’ Ken Dilanian and Frank Thorp report.

— “In December 2020, after a Republican senator asked for unanimous consent to bring the bill to the Senate floor for a vote, Menendez, D-N.J., stood and objected. He argued that while enforcement of foreign lobbying rules needed to be strengthened, more thought needed to be put into exactly how to do it.”

— “‘It seems shortsighted to provide additional enforcement tools before we have figured out what that regime should look like,’ Menendez said on the Senate floor. ‘The disturbing rise of foreign influence campaigns that use a variety of measures to mask who is the ultimate source or beneficiary should serve as an alarm bell for all of us.’”

— An unidentified spokesperson later told NBC News “that Menendez objected to the bill on the recommendation of staff members, in part because it had not been through a review by the Foreign Relations Committee,” and “a partially redacted email obtained by NBC News supports that account but also expresses concern that ‘the R’s will seek to weaponize’ the bill against President Joe Biden.”

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HOW THE MIGHTY HAVE FALLEN: “Cryptocurrency lobbyists were riding so high in early 2022 that an FTX executive felt comfortable directly emailing Jerome H. Powell, the chair of the Federal Reserve, to ask him to meet with Sam Bankman-Fried, the soon-to-be-disgraced founder of the cryptocurrency exchange. It worked,” The New York Times’ Jeanna Smialek and David Yaffe-Bellany write.

— “The crypto industry faces a more difficult landscape in Washington after last fall’s collapse of FTX. … The companies that have survived crypto’s downturn are still pouring millions of dollars into lobbying, but they are having a harder time gaining access to the halls of power. Some congressional offices have become reluctant to meet with industry representatives.”

— “Crypto lobbyists appear less frequently on the public calendars of key officials at the regulatory agencies, and companies have had to shift strategy, straining to distinguish themselves from FTX.”

GUESS WHO’S BACK: “Advocacy organizations that shuttered or laid low after a federal appeals court axed the first Obama administration fiduciary regulation in 2018 are reemerging, fueled once more by a friendly administration intent on trying again,” Bloomberg’s Austin Ramsey reports.

— The Consumer Federation of America, Public Investors Advocate Bar Association and AARP “are reactivating the Save Our Retirement Coalition in the wake” of the new rulemaking. “The group opposed a financial services industry narrative in the lead-up to the 2016 final rule that claimed the Obama-administration rule was too broad and would inflate consumer costs.” Critics of the effort now “say the potential for consumer harm no longer exists in the new legal landscape.”

— The “special interest groups representing investors are set to play an outsized role supporting a tiny federal benefits agency taking on some of Wall Street’s giants. Stricter fiduciary standards from the Labor Department would challenge how securities advisers and insurance brokers charge for service, threatening to upend a multitrillion dollar industry with deep pockets and an experienced lobby.”

A message from Humane Society Legislative Fund:

SPOTTED at ROKK Solutions’ second annual ROKKtoberfest last night, per a PI tipster: Heather Wingate, Skiffington Holderness and Lisa Hanna of Delta Air Lines; Emily Howard and Kelly Metsker of Amway; Olivia Fahrmann and Meredith Owen of Southern Company; Jeremy Wilson-Simerman of McDonald’s; Kathryn Stack of WE Communications; Kasper Zeuthen of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce; Patrick Uzcategui of Unilever; Steve Rochlin of Impact ROI; Christina Sevilla of USTR; Alex Vogel and Brad Howard of The Vogel Group; Tom Shaw of Greater Washington Partnership; Christine Delargy of Sunshine Sachs; Bob Stevenson of OB-C Group; Sara Bonjean of Rose Strategies; Liz Johnson of Sen. Mitt Romney’s (R-Utah) office; Jonathan Kott of Capitol Counsel; Mike Marinella of Rep. Dan Newhouse’s (R-Wash.) office; Jeff Naft of the House Intelligence Committee; Peyton Vogel of the NRCC; Jeff Berkowitz of Delve; Matt Miller of Rep. Ben Cline’s (R-Va.) office; Simon Behrmann of Edelman Global Advisory; Jacqueline Policastro and Sarah Morgan of the American Hotel & Lodging Association; and Ron Bonjean, Rodell Mollineau and Kristen Hawn of ROKK Solutions.

— And at Forward Global’s brand launch party Tuesday evening in partnership with D.C. artist Maggie O'Neill, per a tipster: Treasury's Scott Arceneaux, James Anderson of IBM, Walt Cronkite of Latham & Watkins, Roma Daravi of Daravi Strategies, Bill Doerrer of the White House, Mike Glymph of Diageo, Caffey Norman of Squire Patton Boggs, Megan Pollock of Panasonic, Robert Shapiro, Margie Sullivan of Sullivan Strategy, Omar Vargas of General Motors and Chad Wolf of the America First Policy Institute.

— Olga DeMetri joined S-3 Group as vice president of strategic communications. She was previously senior issues communications manager and D.C. media relations at T-Mobile and is a VantageKnight, LEVICK and CITGO alum.

— Andres Mancini has joined Nahigian Strategies as vice president of brand strategy and creative services. He was formerly vice president of brand strategy at Pinkston.

— Michael Chirico is now executive director of government affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. He most recently served as chief strategy officer for the Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine and Marshall Health and is a Carol Miller and Evan Jenkins alum.

— The National Association of Manufacturers has promoted Charles Crain to vice president of domestic policy. Crain previously served as the NAM’s senior director of tax and domestic economic policy.

— Clorox CEO Linda Rendle will serve as the next chair of the Consumer Brands Association board of directors, and J.M. Smucker President and CEO Mark Smucker will serve as vice chair.

— The American Hotel & Lodging Association has promoted Haleigh Hildebrand to vice president of campaigns and political strategy and Ashley McNeil to vice president of federal affairs. Hildebrand was previously AHLA’s senior director of government and political affairs, McNeil previously served as AHLA’s senior director of federal affairs.

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Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc.: Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Animal Legal Defense Fund: Animal Legal Defense Fund
Foley & Lardner LLP: Atlanta Sports Council
Foley & Lardner LLP: Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau
Foley & Lardner LLP: New York/New Jersey 2026 World Cup Host Committee
Foley & Lardner LLP: Sporting Kansas City
Forbes-Tate: Recreational Off-Highway Vehicle Association, Inc.
Forbes-Tate: Solaredge Technologies Inc.
Forbes-Tate: Voter Participation Center
Gabbert Consulting Co LLC: Pathology And Cytology Laboratories, Inc.
Gilliland & Mckinney International Counsellors (D/B/A Gmi Counsel): Hogan Lovells US LLP (On Behalf Of Bd (Becton, Dickinson & Co.))
The Kpm Group Dc LLC: Astria Therapeutics, Inc.
The Vogel Group: Fix The Debt Coalition, Inc.
Venable LLP: Kerbey Harrington Pinkard LLP On Behalf Of Cabot Corporation

Innocence Project: Innocence Project

A message from Humane Society Legislative Fund:

Some politicians have hatched a radical scheme which could destroy states' rights and eliminate hundreds of laws that preserve our farms, safeguard our food, and protect our animals.

The “Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression” (EATS) Act, H.R. 4417/S. 2019—or any version of it—could have devastating consequences for family farmers. By threatening hundreds of state and local laws and undermining states’ rights, EATS empowers Congress and the federal government to pick winners and losers in the marketplace. This could disproportionately hurt family farms and benefit certain large producers, some of which are foreign-owned.

The EATS Act, H.R. 4417/S. 2019 is a huge federal overreach that would be disastrous for American farmers, and they need your help to make sure it's not included in this year's Farm Bill.

Take Action: Tell Congress not to poison the Farm Bill with the EATS Act or anything like it.
https://hslf.org/farmers

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