WuXi lobbies up, JP Morgan hires Yoder

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Apr 02, 2024 View in browser
 
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By Caitlin Oprysko

With help from Marcia Brown, Daniel Lippman 

NEW BUSINESS: Dentons Global Advisors Government Relations has registered to lobby for WuXi AppTec amid Congress’ efforts to clamp down on biotech companies with ties to China. WuXi AppTec in particular was singled out in recent weeks for its membership in the biotech industry’s main trade association, the Biotechnology Innovation Organization, which had been lobbying against legislation to ban Chinese biotech firms from nabbing contracts with the federal government.

— After Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), the chair of the House Select China Committee, questioned whether WuXi’s BIO membership meant that the trade group might need to register as a foreign agent, new BIO CEO John Crowley announced that WuXi was no longer a member of the association, as our Megan Wilson reported.

— DGA’s Sander Lurie, a former aide to Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), and John Russell, a former aide to former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, began lobbying for WuXi days before BIO’s announcement on “federal matters regarding biotechnology writ large,” according to a disclosure filing.

— WuXi isn’t the only Chinese biotech company targeted by Gallagher’s legislation that suffered a blow to its advocacy footprint in recent weeks. Complete Genomics and BGI were both dropped by lobbying firms after some lawmakers threatened to blacklist lobbyists and lobbying firms working for certain Chinese companies. As PI reported last week, CLS Strategies has now signed on to represent Complete Genomics.

MORE NEW BUSINESS: JPMorgan Chase has added former Rep. Kevin Yoder (R-Kan.) to its bench of outside lobbyists. Yoder’s firm Venture Government Strategies (formerly known as Hobart Hallaway & Quayle Ventures) has been working for the banking giant since January, according to a newly filed disclosure.

David Natonski, a former aide to Rep. Greg Murphy (R-N.C.), is working on the account with Yoder as well. The firm is working on tax, budget and regulatory reform issues, as well as general banking, securities, housing and general financial services issues, per the filing.

— JPMorgan has 10 other firms on retainer, including S-3 Group, Fulcrum Public Affairs, theGROUP D.C., Marshall & Popp, Rich Feuer Anderson, Monument Advocacy, Polaris Government Relations, Capitol Tax Partners and Avenue Solutions (no other former members of Congress, however).

— The Center for Baby and Adult Hygiene Products, a trade association representing producers of menstrual products, disposable diapers and adult incontinence products, registered its first lobbyists. Eric Stewart, Doug deWysocki and Giovanna Komst, whose firm runs a variety of international business councils as well as the hygiene products group, began working for BAHP last month, according to a disclosure filing.

— BAHP’s members include Procter & Gamble, Kimberly-Clark, Thinx and NorthShore, and the group has advocated for greater access to diapers and adult incontinence products, as well as labeling, supply chain, sustainability, chemical management and product safety, according to its website.

Happy Monday and welcome to PI. Send tips: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on the platform formerly known as Twitter: @caitlinoprysko.

 

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FIRST IN PI — WHO BANKROLLED PROGRESSIVES’ CUBA TRIP: Daniel reports that a trip that two prominent Democratic members of Congress recently made to Cuba was paid for by the Center for Democracy in the Americas, a progressive Latin America-focused think tank that advocates for improved relations between the U.S. and Cuba, according to financial disclosures.

— In mid-February, Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) went to Cuba, where they met with Cuban officials, including President Miguel Diaz-Canel, as part of an effort to mend ties with Washington. The members also met with families of individuals imprisoned for protesting the Cuban government.

Some Republican lawmakers, including South Florida’s Cuban-American representatives, criticized the lawmakers for going on the trip and for not disclosing it publicly before traveling to Cuba.

Financial disclosures filed by Omar and trip attendee Gregory Adams, the legislative director for Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) — which were flagged to PI by the conservative watchdog group Americans for Public Trust — show the trip was approved days earlier by the heads of the House Ethics Committee, Chair Michael Guest (R-Miss.) and ranking member Susan Wild (D-Pa.).

— CDA has faced criticism from Cuba hawks, including over its response to the death of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro in 2016. In the wake of the 2021 protests in Cuba and subsequent prosecution of protestors, CDA released a statement criticizing Cuban leaders for “repression of human rights” while urging the Biden administration to “take actionable steps to remove sanctions” and increase engagement.

— “Representatives Jayapal and Omar believe, as progressives have long held, that engaging with Cuba supports the Cuban people during times of crisis and aligns with American national interest,” a spokesperson for the Congressional Progressive Caucus said in a statement to PI responding to requests for comment from the members.

— The spokesperson added that the members did not disclose the trip until after they got back for security reasons, and noted that at the time of the trip several Republican agriculture secretaries were also visiting the island.

María José Espinosa, CDA’s executive director, told PI that past statements the group has come under fire for do not reflect the group’s current views. “We believe engagement is the best approach to improving bilateral relations and making progress on thorny issues like human rights — in Cuba and beyond,” she said.

ON THE AIRWAVES: A new advocacy initiative, dubbed Give America A Break, argues that reinvigorating enforcement of the Robinson-Patman Act would raise, not lower, prices for consumers, as the White House and the FTC have said.

— In March, the campaign launched a six-figure ad buy on broadcast TV, cable and digital ads with a focus on the D.C. market, according to Joe Sangiorgio, a spokesperson for Foundation for America’s Families Inc., the 501(c)(4) group behind the ad campaign.

— The group is arguing that stricter enforcement of Robinson-Patman, as the Biden administration has promised, could jeopardize “the convenience and affordability offered by large retailers.” Sangiorgio said in a statement that his organization is especially concerned about how Robinson-Patman Act enforcement could lead to “potential economic harm, selective enforcement, lack of retrospective studies on the RPA's impact, disregard for consumer impact, and the financial burden of litigation and investigations.”

— FTC commissioners have argued that tighter enforcement of Robinson-Patman is essential to preserving competition and lowering prices in the grocery retail sector. A recent report from the FTC on the grocery sector found that during the coronavirus pandemic, larger retailers were able to secure better terms from their suppliers than their smaller retail competitors. Enforcing the Robinson-Patman Act, proponents argue, would prevent certain kinds of unfair price discrimination, such as the slotting fees that suppliers pay for prime grocery real estate.

THE LOBBYING HISTORY BEHIND BALTIMORE CRASH LIABILITY FIGHT: “The company that owns the ship that crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore last week is trying to use a 173-year-old law to cap the damages it may have to pay, including potential compensation to families of the six workers killed in the disaster,” years after the oil and shipping industries — “including the company that chartered last week’s out-of-control ship — successfully lobbied to block 2010 reforms to this so-called Titanic Law,” The Lever’s Katya Schwenk and Helen Santoro report.

— “On Monday, the opaque shipping company that owns the ship that crashed into the bridge, Grace Ocean Private Limited, filed an action in federal court using the Limitation of Liability Act, an antiquated law from 1851, to argue that the damages it owes for the crash should be capped at $43 million — the remaining value of the ship and its cargo. This is despite the fact that by some estimates, it may cost hundreds of millions of dollars to rebuild the bridge.”

— “For decades, advocates have called to reform the Limitation of Liability Act,” which ramped up again “after the company behind the deadly 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill tried to use the Limitation of Liability Act to severely limit the damages they were forced to pay. In response, lawmakers in Congress introduced a bill that would have ended the use of the law to limit damages in the case of serious injury or death and strengthened laws used to hold oil companies accountable.”

— That bill died amid lobbying by companies including Shell and Maersk — which chartered the ship that crashed into the bridge — and industry groups like the American Petroleum Institute, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Chamber of Shipping of America, the Cruise Lines International Association and more, Lever reports.

Jobs Report

Alan Raul will be the next president and chair of the board of the Future of Privacy Forum, as founder Christopher Wolf is stepping down as president of the board after 15 years. He’ll be succeeded by Alan Raul. Raul is a senior counsel at Sidley Austin is a former vice chair of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board.

Tamara Hinton has joined Cozen O’Connor to lead its strategic communications practice. She most recently served as senior vice president at Story Partners.

Benjamin Klutsey will be the next executive director of George Mason University’s Mercatus Center. Klutsey had previously been serving as the founding director of Mercatus’ Program on Pluralism and Civil Exchange, and will succeed current executive director Daniel Rothschild, who is stepping down after 10 years in the role.

Anne de Fontenay has joined Saul Ewing as chief financial officer. She was previously CFO at Wiley Rein.

Jess O'Connell, Tom Bonier and Ally Sammarco are joining Dream for America, a progressive Gen-Z group trying to rival the right’s Turning Point USA, as senior advisers on the group’s advisory board. O’Connell is the co-founder and CEO at NEWCO Strategies, Bonier is CEO of the TARA Group and Sammarco is the founder of Daughters Defend Democracy.

Domagoj Juričić has joined Foley Federal & International Affairs as a senior associate. He’s currently a principal at the Croatian public affairs firm MKPS.

Amy Best Weiss has been promoted to executive vice president at American Express, where she’ll lead global government affairs, per Morning Money.

Karolina Arias has joined State Street as vice president in its U.S. public policy office. She previously was a partner at Federal Hall Policy Advisors.

Morning Tax reports that former House Ways and Means Chair Kevin Brady (R-Texas) has joined the board of the Tax Foundation, along with Phil Bullock, Apple’s tax chief; Tadd Fowler, a top tax executive at Procter and Gamble; Kurt Lamp, the vice president of global tax at Amazon; and Loren Ponds of Miller and Chevalier, who was majority tax counsel at Ways and Means when Brady was chair.

New Joint Fundraisers

Dakota-Wild and Wonderful 2024 Committee (Dakota PAC, Wild and Wonderful PAC)

LIPETRI VICTORY FUND (Lipetri for Congress, Restore Common Sense PAC)

New PACs

Best of Tennessee Action Fund (Super PAC)

CIV - The Coalition of Independent Voters (PAC)

Gen-Democracy (Super PAC)

Ohio Council for Home Care and Hospice Political Action Committee (PAC)

Pilot Mental Health PAC (PAC)

RESTORE COMMON SENSE PAC (Leadership PAC: Mike Lipetri)

Rise United (Super PAC)

Virginia Democratic Action PAC (Super PAC)

VOTERS FOR RESPONSIVE GOVERNMENT (Super PAC)

New Lobbying REGISTRATIONS

Blount Strategic Initiatives: Animal Wellness Action

Capitol South, LLC: Brodart Co.

Cogent Strategies LLC: Greentech Minerals Holding, Inc.

Dc Legislative And Regulatory Services, Inc.: Graze Inc.

Dc Legislative And Regulatory Services, Inc.: Kynetec

Dinino Associates, LLC: Cornerstone Government Affairs Obo Garmin International, Inc.

Greenmet Consulting: Stardust Power

Holland & Knight LLP: Corvias Military Living, LLC

Holland & Knight LLP: Covar LLC

Ice Miller Strategies LLC: National Association Of Real Estate Brokers

J M Burkman & Associates: Haya Swed

K&L Gates, LLP: New York Embroidery Studio, Inc.

Lodestone Dc: Vitalsource Technologies, LLC

The Business Councils 90A, LLC: Center For Baby And Adult Hygiene Products (Bahp)

New Lobbying Terminations

Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP: American Property Casualty Insurance Association

Health And Medicine Counsel, LLC: Nephure

Horizon Government Affairs: Evergreen Nephrology

Horizon Government Affairs: Panoramic Health

Kyle House Group: One Acre Fund

Mcguirewoods Consulting (A Subsidiary Of Mcguirewoods LLP): Technology-Media-Telecom Capital Group, Inc. (Tmt, Inc.)

Oscar Policy Group, LLC: Philadelphia Visitor Center Corporation

Podesta.Com: Canadian Royalties Inc.

Podesta.Com: Gemcorp Capital Management Limited

Rockies Aria LLC: Spideroak Inc.

Salinas Strategies LLC: Intel Corporation

Stapleton & Associates, LLC: Regent Craft, Inc.

The Michael Lewan Company: Oracle Corporation

The Royer Law Firm (Formerly Royer & Brooks): New York Community Bank

 

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