| | | | |  | | By Daniel Lippman and Caitlin Oprysko | Presented by ExxonMobil | FIRST IN PI: After a successful effort to get some of K Street’s top firms to stop representing Chinese companies alleged to have links to China’s military, some China hawks in Congress are now considering blacklisting lobbying firms that represent TikTok or ByteDance from any meetings with congressional offices, four people familiar with the conversations tell Daniel. — Members and staffers have had these discussions for around four months, but the conversations have become more serious in the last two weeks during the battle over Congress’ bid to force the sale of TikTok, according to two of the people, who were granted anonymity to talk about private discussions. The two staffers said that some members may make a formal decision and announcement on the matter in the next few weeks. — “The volume of TikTok lobbyists in the last three weeks is eyebrow-raising and suspicious, and lobbyists or lobbying firms taking TikTok money will be viewed differently moving forward,” said a Republican member on the House China Committee, adding that the group of lawmakers discussing the idea is bipartisan. — The firms in question include some of K Street’s biggest by revenue and represent a broad range of blue-chip American companies. TikTok retains Crossroads Strategies and Dentons US, both of which it paid $110,000 last quarter; Mehlman Consulting, which TikTok paid $80,000 last quarter; Ankit Desai’s AND Partners, which it paid $40,000 last quarter; and Cozen O’Connor Public Strategies, which it paid $30,000 last quarter. — Parent company ByteDance retains K&L Gates, which reported receiving $40,000 last quarter, and David Urban’s LGL Advisors, which reported earning $50,000 in Q2 2023, the last time Urban reported lobbying activities for the company. (Urban has lobbied for the company this quarter, according to a person familiar with the matter.) Spokespeople for the firms mentioned didn’t respond to requests for comment. — In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, this week, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) appeared to endorse some of his colleagues’ decisions to turn down meeting requests with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew about the TikTok bill, writing that taking such meetings would be “no better than meeting with Hamas or the Taliban.” — ByteDance spokesperson Michael Hughes called the effort “another attempt by certain members of Congress to silence 170 million Americans, including their own constituents, who rely on and love TikTok.” — “None of these members have produced a shred of evidence to support their claims, and they knowingly continue to spread false information about our company,” Hughes told PI in a statement. “This is just another attempt to suppress the truth. TikTok's Project Texas addresses national security concerns and, as we've repeatedly said, ByteDance is not owned or controlled by the CCP, period.” — One staffer said that there is frustration on the Hill about lobbying disclosure requirements when it comes to former members like Rodney Davis (R-Ill.), for example, who has been helping TikTok on behalf of Cozen O’Connor but is not registered as one of the firm’s lobbyists for the platform. — After PI reported last month that some lawmakers were considering a ban on meetings with firms that represented Chinese companies that are on a Pentagon entity list for links to the Chinese military, a slew of firms quickly cut ties with those companies: Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, The Vogel Group, Avoq and Steptoe. TGIF and welcome to PI, where we’re glad to hear the legacy of Stumpy the cherry tree will live on (sorta). Send K Street tips and gossip: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on the platform formerly known as Twitter: @caitlinoprysko.
| | | | A message from ExxonMobil: The world needs ways to reduce carbon emissions. At ExxonMobil, we’re working on solutions in our own operations – like carbon capture and clean energy from hydrogen – that could also help in other industries like manufacturing, commercial transportation and power generation, too. Helping deliver heavy industry with low emissions. | | | FARA FRIDAY: A Dutch oil trader recently sanctioned in the U.K. for connections to the Russian oil trade hired a former Joe Biden Senate aide, Ankit Desai, to help him try to avoid the same fate in the U.S. Niels Troost and his Switzerland-based Paramount Energy & Commodities SA were hit by the British sanctions last month, after a report highlighted a Dubai-based subsidiary of Paramount SA that quickly picked up the Swiss company’s Russian trading activity when it was restricted by sanctions shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. — “Troost facilitates the unfettered trade of Russian oil outside the reach of UK and G7 sanctions,” the government said, though Troost and the companies have denied Troost’s involvement in the UAE company and said the entities were operated “totally independently” from one another. — On Feb. 26, four days after the British sanctions were announced, Troost retained Desai’s AND Partners to research potential U.S. sanctions in addition to “identifying key U.S. private sector and government personnel” and advocating with those targets to advance Troost’s “personal and commercial interests,” according to documents filed with the Justice Department. — The initial term of the contract is 90 days, per a copy filed with DOJ, with a monthly retainer fee of $100,000. The agreement will automatically renew on a month-to-month basis following the initial 90 days, the filings show. REALTORS’ LEGAL CLOUD CLEARING UP: “The National Association of Realtors has agreed to settle a barrage of lawsuits by paying $418 million in damages and eliminating a rule underpinning a lucrative commission system at the heart of the housing market,” our Katy O’Donnell reports. — “The deal, which still must be approved in federal court, would mark an end to all the litigation claims the powerful lobbying group is facing from home sellers, according to NAR. It comes as soaring housing costs and stagnating home sales have caught the eye of the White House.” — “The association, which could still face an investigation by the Justice Department, had faced a wave of legal challenges over its ‘cooperative compensation’ policy, which requires sellers’ agents to provide a blanket offer of compensation to buyer-brokers to be able to show the home on the Realtors’ Multiple Listing Service, where 88 percent of sellers listed homes for purchase last year,” a system that critics said locks in high commissions that inflate housing costs. — “The trade association, which represents 1.6 million real estate agents nationwide, said in a statement Friday that it continues to deny wrongdoing on the rule. … The settlement will release NAR from a jury verdict in Missouri finding NAR and two corporate brokerages liable for $1.8 billion in damages.” STIRRING THE (STEEL) POT: Biden’s official announcement Thursday opposing Japanese Nippon Steel’s bid to acquire U.S. Steel was a victory for populists in Washington, as well as a win for rival would-be buyer Cleveland-Cliffs, which has embarked on a “guerrilla lobbying campaign” to tank the deal, the Wall Street Journal’s Andrew Duehren and Bob Tita report. — Cleveland-Cliffs, facing “the prospect of a competitor vastly strengthened by Nippon Steel’s deep pockets and close ties to Japanese automakers,” has been “trying to kill the deal on Capitol Hill as well as through an unusual alliance with the United Steelworkers,” according to the WSJ. — “In meetings with Republican and Democratic lawmakers, Cleveland-Cliffs staff have amplified union concerns about how Nippon Steel could lay off workers at U.S. Steel plants in Pennsylvania, Indiana and elsewhere, according to people familiar with the matter.” — “During a recent private call with investors, [Cleveland-Cliffs CEO Lourenco] Goncalves appeared to mock the Nippon Steel executives while speaking with what sounded to two people on the call like a Japanese accent, the two people said.” — But Nippon Steel has “has rushed to hire lobbyists, while Takahiro Mori, the company’s head of global business development, traveled to Washington and Pittsburgh recently for a series of meetings. … Their strategy in the U.S. counts on winning over the United Steelworkers, which represents about 10,000 of U.S. Steel’s hourly workers.” — Meanwhile Axios’ Hans Nichols reports that a coalition of conservative groups, including the Center for a Free Economy, Americans for Tax Reform, Club for Growth and the Unleash Prosperity Network, are backing the sale and urging Biden to butt out of CFIUS’ review of the deal. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce also bristled at “attempts to politicize” the acquisition. FIRST IN PI — WATCHDOG READIES NEXT ATTACKS ON PROJECT 2025: Liberal watchdog group Accountable.US on Monday will begin the next phase of its campaign targeting the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, rolling out an ad buy highlighting different planks of the initiative’s policy roadmap for a future Republican presidency. — The ads will run on POLITICO as well as YouTube, Google and social platforms for the next four weeks. The spots, which were shared in advance with PI, warn of Project 2025’s support for restrictions on abortion and in vitro fertilization and support for allowing the president to deploy the military on protesters, though Trump’s campaign has said Project 2025’s platforms are not representative of its own. — The ads also allege the effort is being led by “extremists and conspiracy theorists,” and direct viewers to a microsite with information about key players and entities working on and funding the effort.
| | | | On the ground in Albany. Get critical policy news and analysis inside New York State. Track how power brokers are driving change across legislation and budget and impacting lobbying efforts. Learn more. | | | | | | | | | — Crystal Patterson is now the owner and CEO of Washington Media Group, the public affairs firm where she served as president. Founder Greg Vistica will become chair emeritus of the firm. — Billy Pizer will be the next president and CEO of Resources for the Future. He has served as the environmental group’s vice president of research and policy engagement since 2021. — Gabriela Sibori is joining the National Association of Broadcasters as senior communications director. She was most recently an adviser at HHS.
| | Hayes Victory Fund (Rep. Jahana Hayes, Connecticut Democratic State Central Committee) SENATE WOMEN LEADERSHIP COUNCIL COMMITTEE (Dirigo PAC, Jobs Opportunity and New Ideas PAC, Denali Leadership PAC, Alabama First PAC, Conservatives Harvesting Success PAC, Nebraska Sandhills PAC, Making A Responsible Stand for Households in America PAC, Wild and Wonderful PAC, Steer PAC, NRSC)
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| | | | JOIN US ON 3/21 FOR A TALK ON FINANCIAL LITERACY: Americans from all communities should be able to save, build wealth, and escape generational poverty, but doing so requires financial literacy. How can government and industry ensure access to digital financial tools to help all Americans achieve this? Join POLITICO on March 21 as we explore how Congress, regulators, financial institutions and nonprofits are working to improve financial literacy education for all. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | | | New Lobbying REGISTRATIONS | | | Ajw, Inc.: American Biogas Council Ajw, Inc.: Sustainable Advanced Biofuel Refiners Alki Strategies LLC: Mercantile Ports & Logistics Limited Capitol Consulting Group LLC (Dc): Oracle American Inc. Cgcn Group, LLC: Tzedek Association Holland & Knight LLP: Illuminate USa LLC Holland & Knight LLP: Maximus, Inc. Lot Sixteen LLC: Alaska Energy Metals Corporation Oculus Strategies, LLC: The Livingston Group, LLC Obo National Association Of Ordnance Contractors Oculus Strategies, LLC: The Livingston Group, LLC On Behalf Of Fairwinds Technologies Oculus Strategies, LLC: The Livingston Group, LLC On Behalf Of Tencate Protective Fabrics North America Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A.: Expoflores The Daschle Group: Association Of Diabetes Care & Education Specialists (F/K/A Aade) The Daschle Group: Florida Essential Healthcare Partnerships The Daschle Group: Hackensack Meridian Health The Daschle Group: Heartflow, Inc. The Daschle Group: Mark Hastings The Daschle Group: Medify Air The Daschle Group: National Association Of Community Health Centers The Daschle Group: Stride, Inc The Daschle Group: Texas Essential Healthcare Partnerships The Daschle Group: Wellsky Tiber Creek Health Strategies, Inc.: Grail, LLC Venn Strategies: Association Of American Medical Colleges (Aamc) Venn Strategies: North American Graphite Alliance (Naga)
| | New Lobbying Terminations | | Application Developers Alliance: Application Developers Alliance C6 Strategies, LLC (Fka Ms. Dana W. Hudson): Episys Science, Inc. Capitol Consulting Group LLC (Dc): Cove Strategies On Behalf Of Oracle American Inc. Cibc Bancorp USa: Cibc Bancorp USa Integrative Providers Association: Integrative Providers Association K&L Gates, LLP: Black Summit Financial Rock & Associates: Precision Pharmacy Tiber Creek Group: Vulcanforms, Inc.
| | | | A message from ExxonMobil: Heavy industry accounts for nearly 30% of global carbon emissions. For these businesses, setting and achieving meaningful carbon-reduction goals can be complex. At ExxonMobil, we’ve been working on reducing our own carbon emissions. At our Baytown plant, one of the world’s largest integrated refining and petrochemical operations, we’re working to deploy hydrogen power and carbon capture to reduce emissions by up to 30%. Now, we’re taking solutions like these to others in heavy industry. Using our technologies, we can help these businesses create a plan to make similar reductions. And together, we can deliver a lower-emissions future. Let's deliver. | | | | | | | Follow us | | | | |
