Happy Thursday and welcome to PI. Send lobbying tips: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on the platform formerly known as Twitter: @caitlinoprysko. FIRST IN PI — INSIDE THE CHAMBER’S TAX KICKOFF: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce convened key players from the Hill and downtown today to jump start the business group’s lobbying efforts ahead of next year’s tax sprint. — The closed-door summit featured House Budget Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas), former House Ways and Means Chair Kevin Brady (who as readers might recall is now leading the charge from the business side of things to preserve key provisions from the 2017 tax overhaul he helped write) and former Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) ahead of what the Chamber’s Neil Bradley told our Declan Harty will be a “massive lobbying effort” over the next 18 months. — The event drew around 150 members of the Chamber in addition to former Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), who’s now at Husch Blackwell Strategies; former Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.), another architect of the 2017 bill and who’s now at BakerHostetler; and other tax lobbyists like Sage Eastman of Mehlman Consulting, Mark Prater of PwC, Russ Sullivan of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, Arshi Siddiqui of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, Chris Myers of Caterpillar and Kathleen Black of Visa, per an attendee. — The event formally kicked off a drive that will require properly messaging the gravity of the expiring tax breaks to a Congress that will look much different than in 2017 and will almost certainly be less eager to want to be seen sympathizing with Big Business — regardless of who controls Congress or the White House. — “There's $4 trillion of tax hikes at stake that would land in a crushing way on families, workers, small businesses and U.S. companies,” Brady said at the gathering, according to the attendee, calling it “crucial that Congress finds a way to come together to not just extend but improve the tax code.” TRUMP ALUMNI RAISE MONEY FOR FORMER COLLEAGUE: A group of former Trump administration officials and staffers are hosting a fundraiser tonight for one of their own, Brian Jack, in his bid for a Georgia House seat, according to an invite shared with PI. — Jack, a longtime aide to former President Donald Trump who became the White House’s political director before going to work for then-House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, announced in March that he’d be running for the seat held by retiring Rep. Drew Ferguson (R-Ga.). — The host committee for tonight’s fundraiser includes BGR Group co-founder and former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour; former Trump White House aides Joe Lai and William Crozer; former Trump adviser David Urban, now of BGR; Latham & Watkins’ Makan Delrahim, who oversaw the DOJ antitrust division under Trump; former Trump White House lawyer Jim Schultz; former Rep. Pat Meehan (R-Pa.); and Georgia political operatives Edens Davis and Robert Highsmith. IN MEMORIAM: “Jack Quinn, a high-powered lobbyist and lawyer who served as White House counsel under President Bill Clinton and later represented Marc Rich, the fugitive financier who received a controversial pardon during Clinton’s final hours in office, died May 8 at his home in Washington,” The Washington Post’s Emily Langer reports. He was 74. — “The cause was long-term complications from a double-lung transplant in 2019, said his wife, Susanna Quinn. He had previously suffered from hypersensitivity pneumonitis, which led to the transplant.” — Jack Quinn, who rose to lead Arnold & Porter’s lobbying shop and later founded one of D.C.’s top lobbying firms, Quinn Gillespie & Associates, “was the consummate Washington insider, sought after by politicians, corporations and other clients for his legal expertise, his political instincts and his ability to navigate the city’s centers of power.” Most recently, Quinn served as head of the government affairs practice at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips. WHAT TRUMP TOLD OIL EXECS: “As Donald Trump sat with some of the country’s top oil executives at his Mar-a-Lago Club last month, one executive complained about how they continued to face burdensome environmental regulations despite spending $400 million to lobby the Biden administration in the last year,” The Washington Post’s Maxine Joselow and Josh Dawsey report. — “Trump’s response stunned several of the executives in the room overlooking the ocean: You all are wealthy enough, he said, that you should raise $1 billion to return me to the White House.” — At the dinner, whose attendees included Venture Global founder and CEO Mike Sabel, Cheniere Energy chief executive Jack Fusco, and executives from Chevron, Continental Resources, Exxon and Occidental Petroleum, Trump pledged to immediately overturn President Joe Biden’s energy and environmental policies, per The Post. “Giving $1 billion would be a ‘deal,’ Trump said, because of the taxation and regulation they would avoid thanks to him,” sources told the paper. TAG STRATEGIES LAYS OFF 4: Republican campaign consulting firm TAG Strategies recently laid off four employees, three people familiar with the matter told Daniel. TAG, which has more than 50 employees, was started by NRSC and Targeted Victory alum Jon Adams in 2020. Such layoffs are not that unusual at political firms reliant on cyclical campaign work. — "TAG has quickly established itself as one of the fastest-growing firms in our industry, and we are dedicated to maintaining this trajectory," a TAG official said in a statement to PI. "To ensure our clients and team's continued success, we are committed to fostering a productive environment where all staff members are fully engaged and contributing effectively." CHA ADDS 4: The Children’s Hospital Association has hired Kaleigh Koudela as a federal affairs manager, Olivia Erim as a child health policy analyst, Gabby Ahearn as a public affairs specialist and Suzanne Timar as executive assistant to the CEO. — Koudela was most recently a legislative assistant for Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Mo.), Ahearn was previously on the government relations team at 340B Health, and Timar was previously an executive assistant for communications at National Geographic Society. FLY-IN SZN: The Interfaith Power and Light Network was part of the parade of interest groups blanketing the Hill this week as approps season gets underway. The group flew in nearly 70 faith leaders to bolster support for EPA’s new climate pollution standards and push for commitments for funding for international climate initiatives. — The group met with more than 80 offices including those of Sens. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Rep. Morgan McGarvey (R-Ky.). The coalition, which aims to show the popularity of climate change policies among people of faith, also delivered a letter of support to the Biden administration that was signed by 1,000 faith leaders.
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