ICYMI — MORE K STREETERS ON PENN. AVE: Trump isn’t done stocking his administration with members of the influence industry. On Wednesday, the president filed paperwork formally nominating Kathleen Sgamma, the longtime head of oil and gas trade group Western Energy Alliance, to lead the Bureau of Land Management, as well as former Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath and CGCN Group lobbyist Aaron Szabo to lead EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation, our Pro Energy colleagues write. — A day earlier, Trump unveiled his appointees to the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board, an independent body within the Executive Office of the President that oversees the U.S. intelligence community’s compliance with the Constitution, which is also drawing some members from downtown. — Among the new members are a handful of megadonors and fundraisers for the president — as is common — including Wayne Berman, who leads government affairs at investment giant Blackstone. — Also on the list were Trump’s first chief of staff Reince Priebus, the board chair of the government affairs shop Michael Best Strategies, his final national security adviser Robert O’Brien, who runs the national security consulting firm American Global Strategies, and fellow Trump 1.0 alum Katie Miller, who worked for P2 Public Affairs before rejoining the second Trump administration. HOW WE GOT HERE: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was sworn in this afternoon as head of the nation’s health agencies, closing the book on what turned out to be a relatively smooth confirmation process. Kennedy’s installation portends a tremendous “upheaval for America’s $4 trillion health care industry,” but our Daniel Payne dug into why in spite of those huge stakes, the industry did “little and [is] hoping for the best” from their newly empowered detractor. — “From drugmakers to doctors’ organizations, groups thought to have the clout to steer policy and funding in Washington because they enjoyed bipartisan support and huge lobbying budgets have remained silent about Kennedy. They haven’t spoken up even though he has accused them of fraud and conspiracy, and promised to hold them accountable.” — “That’s not because they aren’t worried, but because they didn’t think they could stop him — or think the cost of speaking out would be too steep, five people representing health groups, granted anonymity to speak candidly, said. By staying mum, they hope to limit the fallout if Kennedy follows through on his plans to strip the industry to the studs.” — “The health care industry’s muted response to Kennedy is also a reflection of how much President Donald Trump has sacrificed traditional GOP constituencies to raise a populist, working-class revolt on the interests that once held sway in the capital — and how much Republicans in Congress have gone along.” HANGING A SHINGLE: Rachel Patterson and Sarah Meek have launched Patterson & Meek, a lobbying shop specializing in health care and disability policy with a special focus on protecting and promoting Medicaid. Patterson was most recently the director of disability policy for the White House Domestic Policy Council under former President Joe Biden, and Meek was previously an in-house lobbyist for Blue Cross Blue Shield’s mid-Atlantic plan Care First. ONE TO WATCH: “House lawmakers Wednesday advanced several GOP bills that aim to crack down on foreign gifts and contracts at American colleges and K-12 schools,” our Bianca Quilantan reports. — The House Education and Workforce Committee advanced measures that would lower the threshold for college foreign gift reporting requirements; restrict federal funding from K-12 schools that have partnerships with a cultural or language institute directly or indirectly funded by China; bar schools from accepting funds or entering into contracts with Chinese entities altogether; and require schools to allow parents to review curricula provided by or purchased with foreign funds, among other things. — Tim Walberg, who chairs the House Education and Workforce Committee, warned during the markup that “Chinese Communist Party influence in American classrooms is pervasive across all levels of education,” assertions that prompted pushback from his Democratic counterpart Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.), who “said the bills do not improve education and contradict the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle the Education Department.” ANNALS OF DARK MONEY: “A small and financially opaque drug research nonprofit group based in Ohio has managed to get its research cited extensively in high-prestige publications such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Reuters,” but a review of public records by the Washington Examiner’s Robert Schmad “found that the organization, 46brooklyn Research, has strong ties to the pharmaceutical industry, a detail not present in the news coverage of its work.” — “46brooklyn, the seemingly small nonprofit research operation, is entangled in a financial network leading to the top lobbying arm of the pharmaceutical industry. It has been planting what it presents as independent research, which often supports the policy goals of drug manufacturers, across the legacy media. The group’s ties to Big Pharma, however, are seldom disclosed by reporters.” — “Few financial details are available about 46brooklyn directly, as the group reports less than $50,000 in revenue per year, which allows it to file a 990-N tax return, a form containing less information than a traditional nonprofit disclosure.” — “The answer as to how a nonprofit research organization with seemingly so few resources can have this degree of impact can be found by examining a for-profit consulting firm called 3 Axis Advisors,” whose website says its staff “dedicates significant time and resources to power 46brooklyn Research.” — “The two entities share the same four staff members, according to their respective websites. By taking in revenue through a for-profit arm and generating research through a nonprofit group, 46brooklyn is able to avoid filing a traditional, more detailed nonprofit disclosure form. Indeed, 3 Axis Advisors takes in considerable income, with much of it coming from organizations linked to the pharmaceutical industry.” SPOTTED dining at Iron Gate last night, ahead of today’s House Foreign Affairs hearing on USAID, per a tipster: Former USAID Administrator Andrew Natsios; Samah Norquist, the former Trump chief adviser to USAID’s head of international religious freedom; Rev. Galen Carey of the National Association of Evangelicals; and Bill O’Keefe from Catholic Relief Services.
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