In memoriam: Dirk Van Dongen

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Jun 10, 2024 View in browser
 
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By Caitlin Oprysko

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With Daniel Lippman

IN MEMORIAM: Dirk Van Dongen, a giant on K Street, has died, according to his longtime home downtown, the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors. Van Dongen spent more than five decades at the trade association — including 41 years as its chief executive — before retiring from NAW in 2020.

— That wasn’t before Van Dongen transformed the little-known trade group into a political powerhouse punching way above its weight. He’s credited with bringing together business coalitions to support marquee legislation like the 1986 and 2001 tax cuts and raised millions of dollars for Republican White House and congressional hopefuls since the Reagan administration.

— “I often told Dirk Van Dongen that he was a living legend,” Eric Hoplin, who succeeded Van Dongen as CEO of the Wholesaler-Distributors, said in a statement. Van Dongen’s “office walls told the story of his influence, adorned with photos of Presidents, Prime Ministers, and countless leaders of the House and Senate,” Hoplin said, adding that Van Dongen “mentored generations of trade association leaders, including myself.”

— “No one had a better sense of how America's businesses were impacted by regulation and taxation” than Van Dongen, former House Speaker John Boehner said in a statement. “No one was more effective at petitioning the government to exercise common sense and restraint to ensure America’s economic engine kept on chugging.”

— Beyond that, Van Dongen was a “great friend” whose support and guidance Bohener said he was “immensely” grateful for — along with Van Dongen’s love of food. “I learned a lot from him about the nature of leadership — and about food. He was a true friend, and I’m really going to miss him. We all are.”

DOWNTOWN WANTS CHANGES IN PRIVACY BILL: A coalition of nearly two dozen trade groups representing an array of industries is panning the federal data privacy bill, reiterating their concerns that the latest bipartisan proposal doesn’t go far enough in addressing the patchwork of state data privacy laws.

— The American Privacy Rights Act, a joint effort from House Energy and Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) and Senate Commerce Chair Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), would preempt most state privacy laws, but it includes some carve outs for health data, consumer protection and employee information.

— That needs to change ahead of a full committee markup, trade groups warned in a letter today to McMorris Rodgers and her Democratic counterpart Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.). “Although our organizations have a range of views on APRA, we all agree that full preemption of state law is an essential component of any meaningful federal privacy legislative effort,” they wrote.

— The letter’s signatories include traditional tech groups like TechNet, the Computer & Communications Industry Association, NetChoice, the Information Technology Industry Council, the Chamber for Progress and the Consumer Technology Association; business lobbies such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Business Roundtable; housing groups like the National Apartment Association and National Multifamily Housing Council; and the National Electrical Manufacturers Association and American Financial Services Association.

— As drafted, APRA “falls short of creating a uniform national standard due to its inadequate federal preemption” the groups said, arguing the bill in its current form “will add to the privacy patchwork, create confusion for consumers, and hinder economic growth.”

Happy Monday and welcome to PI. Send tips: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on X: @caitlinoprysko.

 

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WOMEN ‘INTIMIDATED AND DISCARDED’ AT SUBJECT MATTER: Avoq, the top D.C. lobbying shop formerly known as Subject Matter, has fostered a brutal work environment for women, our Daniel Lippman and Megan R. Wilson report.

— The firm settled to stave off a potential lawsuit last year from two female executives, Shanti Stanton and Audrey Chang, who allege that their abrupt terminations were the result of gender discrimination.

— And while leaders at the firm denied charges of a hostile and sexist office culture, “interviews with about three dozen former employees of the firm show that Stanton and Chang weren’t alone in their experiences. Twenty-eight of the former employees reported experiencing or witnessing some sexist treatment while at the firm,” according to Daniel and Megan.

— “Among the complaints from the departed employees: receiving unwanted comments about their appearance, being berated or yelled at by their bosses, having their ideas shut down, and seeing credit for their work taken by men. Some men were advocates for women, but many others ‘failed upward,’ in the words of several former employees.”

— A majority of the women who spoke to POLITICO “said the firm’s male leaders have had disproportionate sway and decision-making power, compared to women at senior levels.” But four of the women contacted disputed that the firm had been a poor place for them to work.

— CEO Nicole Cornish told Daniel and Megan “that the overarching allegation made by former employees that Subject Matter was a poor workplace for women is ‘inconsistent with the facts of who we are and the firm we have built,’” and noted that Avoq currently has women installed in a number of key leadership positions throughout the firm.

IN THEIR WORKING ERA: For the past decade, the equally divided Federal Election Commission "deadlocked so often it became a political punchline as investigations languished, enforcement slowed and updated guidelines for the internet era stalled," but The New York Times' Shane Goldmacher reports that that's abruptly changed.

— "In a series of recent decisions that are remaking the landscape of money in American politics, an ascendant new bloc of three Republicans and one Democrat is voting together to roll back limits on how politicians, political parties and super PACs raise and spend money."

ALL IN THE FAMILY: “Since 2019, Joe Biden has repeatedly distanced himself from his family’s business dealings, saying that he has never so much as discussed them with his relatives or with anyone else,” our Ben Schreckinger writes.

— “But House impeachment inquiry interviews, public records and emails reviewed by POLITICO show that members of his inner circle were regularly enmeshed in those dealings: Many of the president’s closest staffers and advisers have doubled as his relatives’ business associates, both during and after their stints working for the man at the center of the Biden family orbit.”

— “To allay concerns about any intermingling of their affairs, the Bidens have said that they observe strict interpersonal firewalls to avoid discussing business among themselves. But with so many former and current aides in the mix … onlookers are forced to take family members at their word that those firewalls always held.”

ANNALS OF CAMPAIGN FINANCE: The American Israel Public Affairs Committee is the rare political group that can still draw plenty of financial support across both sides of the aisle while at the same time supporting pro-Israel candidates in both parties. Lately AIPAC’s fundraising machine has primarily focused on “leveraging its weight in competitive Democratic primaries, spending millions to boost moderates over progressives who have been critical of Israel,” our Jessica Piper and Hailey Fuchs report.

— That’s made AIPAC “the biggest source of Republican money flowing into competitive Democratic primaries this year, according to a POLITICO analysis of campaign finance data — and drawn outrage from the left over what it sees as GOP meddling in Democratic contests. Nearly half of AIPAC donors to Democratic candidates this year have some recent history of giving to Republican campaigns or committees.”

IF YOU MISSED IT LAST WEEK: The lobbying push to get weight loss drugs like Ozempic covered by Medicare is picking up, our Chelsea Cirruzzo and Megan report, with health advocacy groups and providers deploying a new strategy in the past few weeks.

— Instead of pressing Congress to toss a law banning Medicare coverage of weight loss drugs, lobbyists are now pitching HHS with a potential workaround by nudging the agency to classify obesity as a chronic condition — a push some say is a long shot.

— “‘Our argument is we're not really talking about weight loss here. We're talking about treating obesity. And therefore — just like HHS did [to allow Medicare to cover drugs for weight gain following cancer or AIDS] — they should do the same thing for obesity,’ said Chris Gallagher, president of Potomac Currents, in an interview.”

— “His firm represents a number of groups working on obesity policy issues, such as the Obesity Action Coalition, the Obesity Society, the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery and the American Society of Bariatric Physicians. The shift comes as lobbyists fail to get traction in Congress, where their arguments to overturn a 2003 law that bans Medicare from covering certain drugs, including weight loss drugs, haven’t led to any concrete movement.”

 

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Jobs Report

Kevin Glass is joining AARP as external relations director for economic policy communications. He was most recently vice president at the National Taxpayers Union.

— The Healthcare Supply Chain Association has named Angie Boliver as its new president and CEO. Boliver is the founder and principal consultant of AB Communications Strategies.

Harry Rust is now a research associate at Ervin Graves Strategy Group.

Lisa Wolski is joining Washington Council EY as a managing director working on tax policy issues. She was previously head of government affairs and senior executive counsel at General Electric.

Beacon Global Strategies added Divyansh Kaushik and Ben Schramm as vice presidents, per Morning Defense. Kaushik was most recently associate director for emerging technologies and national security at the Federation of American Scientists and Schramm was most recently director of national security operations at Maxar Technologies.

David Wei is joining Brunswick Group as a partner in the New York office. He was most recently managing director of climate and nature at Business for Social Responsibility.

Chelsey Peppe will be a senior account manager at marketing firm Good Influence. She was previously a senior associate at 1063 West Broad and is a Planned Parenthood Federation of America alum.

Karla Rodriguez is now communications director for the Congressional Hispanic CaucusBold PAC. She previously was press secretary for Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas).

Abram Olmstead is launching a full-service comms agency, Litenflame. He most recently was head of digital communications for the National Automobile Dealers Association, and is a U.S. Chamber of Commerce alum.

Fair Fight Action is bringing back Lauren Groh-Wargo as CEO and adding Max Flugrath as communications director. Groh-Wargo led Fair Fight before stepping away to run Stacey Abrams’ Georgia gubernatorial campaign. Flugrath previously was director of comms at For the Long Term.

Jeff Le is joining SecurityScorecard as vice president for global government affairs and public policy. He most recently was director of government affairs at Conduent.

Essam Attia is now a junior partner at the Nimitz Group. She previously was a policy adviser for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

Nicolas Sampedro is now a senior comms associate at Feldman Strategies. He most recently was at Berlin Rosen.

New Joint Fundraisers

None.

New PACs

Abraham PAC (Super PAC)

Accountable Tacoma (PAC)

Bitcoin Voter PAC (Super PAC)

United Avance California Democratic Federation (PAC)

Working Class Action Fund (Super PAC)

New Lobbying REGISTRATIONS

Actum I, LLC: Verod Capital Management

Aristotle International, Inc.: Exhibitions And Conferences Alliance

S-3 Group: Telgoo5

Thorsen French Advocacy LLC: Council For Innovation Promotion (C4Ip)

New Lobbying Terminations

Penn Strategies: Button Holdings

Penn Strategies: Jersey Shore Borough

Penn Strategies: Pocono Township, Monore County

Penn Strategies: Wayne Township Landfill

Winning Strategies Washington: West New York Housing Authority

 

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