FIRST IN PI — VOGEL GROUP HIRES GONZALEZ: Veteran health care lobbyist Ariel Gonzalez has decamped from Chamber Hill Strategies, where he was one of the firm’s top Democratic lobbyists, to lead the health care practice at the Vogel Group. — Gonzalez has spent the past two decades working for some of Washington’s top health care industry groups, including serving as senior vice president of government affairs and public policy at the March of Dimes, chief of government affairs at the American Psychiatric Association and director of health and family advocacy at AARP, with additional stints at the Podesta Group, Quest Diagnostics and the American College of Radiology. — At Vogel Group, Gonzalez told PI he’ll be looking to build out a “mature” health care practice working on a variety of issues related to payments, maternal health care, hospital issues and access to care. Gonzalez said he expects several clients for whom he lobbied at Chamber Hill to join him at Vogel Group but that there was nothing he could announce at the moment. WHY TIKTOK’S FIGHT FOR SURVIVAL FEELS FAMILIAR: “ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok, does not want Congress to force a sale of its crown jewel,” and as the company works to derail the bill that would do so, “a key element of its strategy has emerged: deputize its army of TikTok ‘creators’ to become informal lobbyists, asking them to plead the company’s case,” David Zipper writes in Slate. — Zipper recounts in the piece how TikTok’s “people-power lobbying strategy” mirrors the playbook Uber used during its early days to fend off government intervention. In D.C., “rather than approach city officials to introduce itself and request permission to operate, Uber quietly began offering rides to select customers, inviting targets (often young professionals) to boozy parties where Uber vouchers were distributed. … Uber quickly established a passionate and loyal customer base,” which it then deployed against a city council bill to regulate the service. — “Uber’s strategy pointed to a new kind of political power wielded by consumer tech platforms that could instantly and repeatedly push messaging to thousands — or millions — of loyal users. People have a right, perhaps even a duty, to give their elected officials feedback and input. Now, they were being mobilized to do so not by an organic feeling, or even a grassroots activist campaign, but by a company that had direct and instant access to them.” TRUMP’S MONEY TROUBLES: “Donald Trump’s reelection campaign has begun to see warning signs that the small-dollar donors who fueled his last run for the White House have slowed their support to the former president this year,” CNBC’s Brian Schwartz reports, and some GOP advisers have warned Trump’s team “there may not be much that the former president or his campaign can do to win back these key donors.” — The conundrum is “magnified by a second problem: Many wealthy Republican donors have yet to commit to giving millions of dollars toward a pro-Trump political action committee, or to using their extensive networks to raise money for the campaign, according to people familiar with the matter.” — “Beyond Trump-specific entities, some donors are also hesitant to fund the Republican National Committee, or a newly created joint fundraising committee that will raise money for the RNC, Trump’s campaign and dozens of state GOP parties, according to people briefed on the matter. Their reluctance stems, in part, from concerns that the RNC will use the money not to help elect Republicans, but to pay for Trump’s extensive legal fees, sources said.” FLYING IN: More than 350 postmasters and managers were on the Hill today as part of a fly-in hosted by the United Postmasters and Managers of America. The postal workers will discuss the impacts of provisions that result in lower Social Security benefits for some retirees because they get pensions from employers that don’t withhold Social Security taxes from salaries, like jobs in state and local government (including postal workers). — They’ll also discuss sustainability issues at USPS in meetings with lawmakers including Reps. Darin LaHood (R-Ill.), Jodey Arrington (R-Texas), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.), Blake Moore (R-Utah), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) and Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) and Sens. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Mark Warner (D-Va.) and John Boozman (R-Ark.). — Leaders of the loan companies Mariner Finance, Regional Finance, Republic Finance, Security Finance and 1st Franklin are making a trip to the Hill this week, too, as part of the American Financial Services Association’s fly-in. — AFSA reps are set to meet with staff for Sens. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.) and James Lankford (R-Okla.), House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) and Reps. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) and Terri Sewell (D-Ala.), among others, to discuss their campaign for clearer rules for the road for industry from CFPB.
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