With Daniel Lippman Washington Commanders lobby up: The Washington Commanders have enlisted a new team of lobbyists to make their case in Washington, as D.C. tries to draw its football team back to the district. — The team, now called the Washington Commanders, moved out of D.C. decades ago. And its former site at the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium — which has been approved for demolition — has remained unused since 2019. The team’s games now take place in Landover, Maryland. — A bipartisan group of lawmakers has devised a plan that could ultimately bring the team back to Washington through legislation that would allow the district’s government to transform the currently dormant site of the RFK Stadium, called the “D.C. Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium Campus Revitalization Act.” — The legislation, driven in part by D.C.’s delegate to the House Eleanor Norton, passed the House in February. The Washington Commanders have hired Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck to lobby on the bill, per a new filing under the Lobbying Disclosure Act published this week. — Washington’s football team has had a tumultuous few years. In 2020, the team retired its former name and logo after years of criticism that its former brand was offensive to Native Americans. Congressional lawmakers were investigating the organization over allegations of a “hostile workplace culture.” Its embattled owner Dan Snyder, dogged by sexual harassment allegations himself, sold the team in 2023. — Josh Harris, the new owner, has reportedly said the team is looking for a new home, but it remains unclear whether that will be in D.C., Maryland or Virginia. Advocates for the legislation that would free RFK Stadium argue that transforming the derelict stadium would promise economic opportunity for the district. — ”The Washington Commanders are fortunate to have the interest of three incredible jurisdictions as we search for a new home and future stadium for the team,” a Commanders spokesperson said in a statement. “This is not a process we take lightly and we are committed to engaging with Maryland, Virginia, and DC as we consider each potential opportunity.” — The team at Brownstein lobbying for the Commanders is expected to include Al Mottur, Norman Brownstein, Carmencita Whonder and Brian McGuire. Lobbyists at Dentons — including former Reps. Joe Crowley and Jeff Denham — already represent the Washington Commanders. The firm Squire Patton Boggs is also registered to lobby for the team. Happy Thursday, and welcome to PI. My name is Hailey Fuchs, and I’ll be helming the newsletter for the rest of the week while Caitlin is out. Please send me all your money and politics tips and any noteworthy behind-the-scenes moments from the RNC in Milwaukee hfuchs@politico.com. Follow me on X: @Hailey_Fuchs. SPOTTED at Ways and Means Toast in Milwaukee: Per a tipster, a number of members were spotted at the toast to House Ways and Means Republicans at Il Cervo in Milwaukee organized by Akin and co-hosted by Amazon.com, Business Roundtable, Center for a Free Economy and KPMG. They include, among others, Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.), Reps. Ron Estes (R-Kan.), Randy Feenstra (R-Iowa), Kevin Hern (R-Okla.), Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.), Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.) and Beth Van Duyne (R-Tex.). — Former House speaker Newt Gingrich, political activist Grover Norquist and former Rep. Kevin Brady were also in attendance, per the tipster. SMALL BUSINESSES SOUND OFF: A coalition of groups representing small businesses are calling on the Federal Trade Commission to enforce the Robinson-Patman Act, a law that targets price discrimination. — In a letter to FTC chair Lina Khan and commissioners shared with POLITICO, they argue that the government has stopped enforcing the law. As a result, they claim, companies like Walmart and Amazon have been able “to concentrate control over much of the economy.” — ”Our ask: a level playing field and fair competition,” the coalition of groups writes. “We can compete and we want to compete. Key to that is enforcing the Robinson-Patman Act to address predatory buying. Failure to enforce the statute has led to higher prices. Restoring competition would bring down prices, creating opportunities for new suppliers.” — Fairness will create competition, and in turn, competition will bring lower prices, the groups said. The coalition includes the American Booksellers Association, Main Street Alliance, National Community Pharmacists Association and National Sporting Goods Association, among others. DRUG LOBBY’S IMPACT: “A clutch of headlines last week suggested the U.S. Senate had achieved a breakthrough in the battle to prevent pharmaceutical companies from abusing the patent system, an issue that has been blamed for boosting prescription drug costs for Americans,” report STAT’s Ed Silverman and Rachel Cohrs Zhang. “But while the Senate bill clearly represents a step forward, the impact will not be nearly as great as originally intended by lawmakers due to industry lobbying.” — ”A lead sponsor of the long-sought legislation, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), boasted that the bill, which was first introduced in May 2019, would thwart the use of so-called patent thickets. The term refers to the use of dozens, even hundreds, of patents granted for a medicine to a brand-name drug company, which can then use these patents to prevent would-be generic rivals from selling a lower-cost version.” — “Critics of the pharmaceutical industry argue that many of these patents are not novel inventions that benefit patients, but instead are merely tweaks. Yet by assembling so many patents, a brand-name company creates expensive and time-consuming litigation barriers that can delay a generic manufacturer from reaching the market. Such practices provided the impetus for the effort to take aim at patent thickets.” VIRGINIA CONGRESSIONAL CASH: “Money is flowing into Virginia’s most competitive congressional races this year, with the latest campaign finance reports showing a cash advantage for incumbents but Democrats outpacing Republicans in a pair of open seats in Northern Virginia,” report The Washington Post’s Gregory S. Schneider and Antonio Olivo. — “In the only statewide race on the fall ballot, incumbent Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) reported a significant fundraising lead over his Republican challenger, Hung Cao. With recent polls suggesting that purple Virginia is in play in this year’s presidential contest, holding onto Kaine’s seat will be crucial for any Democratic hopes of maintaining their thin majority in the Senate.” — “In the Northern Virginia race to succeed Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-Va.), Democratic state Sen. Suhas Subramanyam (Loudoun) raised 10 times as much his Republican opponent Mike Clancy during June, collecting nearly $240,000 through his principal campaign committee, according to its most recent campaign finance reports. A joint fundraising committee raising funds for Subramanyam and other Democrats in Virginia collected $88,700.”
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