WHAT’S NEW IN FASHION: American Circular Textiles, an advocacy coalition that represents 11 circular fashion and textile companies including H&M and Reformation, is heading to Washington next week to meet with congressional leaders to discuss domestic manufacturing, de minimis reform and incentives and recycling incentives. — The coalition lobbied in support of the Americas Act, introduced by Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) last year. The legislation aims to establish regional trade and partnerships in the Western Hemisphere and incentivize growth in the private sector. FARA FRIDAY: Checkmate Government Relations, the North Carolina lobbying firm with close ties to Trump, has signed on Novo Nordisk, the Denmark-based pharmaceutical company. — Novo Nordisk, which produces popular weight-loss drugs Wegovy and Ozempic, has invested $6.5 billion in the U.S. to manufacture and produce the weight-loss drugs. The FDA announced today that the roughly two-year-long supply shortage of the drugs has been resolved, causing Novo Nordisk’s stock price to surge. — Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen, CEO of Novo Nordisk, said that he believes the company to be well-positioned despite Trump’s tariff threats. Jørgensen was among a number of firm executives who met with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen last month to discuss the threats. TANDEN MAKES HER RETURN: Neera Tanden, a vocal critic of Trump during his first administration, is returning to Democratic think tank Center for American Progress as president and CEO, our Danny Nguyen writes. She previously joined the group in 2017 as president. — “Tanden’s return comes at an inflection point for the party, which has struggled to carve a lane after the 2024 presidential elections. Since Election Day, Democrats have conceded they should have campaigned harder on economic hardship and other issues, and that the party needs to reorient its messaging as Trump works to overhaul the government.” — “‘It’s incumbent of us not to be defenders of the status quo, but to provide an alternative,’ Tanden said in an interview with POLITICO. In her vision, the party should use moments like the recent House Republican push to cut Medicaid spending to demonstrate to voters the harmful real-world impact of these decisions, she said.” — “Tanden has worked as a domestic policy aide for the Clinton, Obama and Biden administrations. She has since been dubbed a key architect of domestic policy, including the Affordable Care Act.” GRANHOLM GOES PRIVATE: Jennifer Granholm, former Energy secretary under the Biden administration, has joined the board at Edison International, Ari Natter writes for Bloomberg. Granholm will also join the electric utility holding company’s subsidiary Southern California Edison. — “The appointment of Granholm, who previously served two terms as Michigan’s governor, comes as Edison probes the possibility that its electricity lines could have ignited the Eaton Fire in California, which leveled the community of Altadena, razing 9,000 structures, and killing 17 people.” INTERFERING WITH INTERFERENCE: “The Trump administration is targeting government officials who had been flagging foreign interference in U.S. elections, despite ongoing concerns that adversaries are stoking political and social divisions by spreading propaganda and disinformation online,” Steven Lee Myers, Julian E. Barnes and Sheera Frenkel write for The New York Times. — According to current and former government officials, the administration has been reassigning individuals working on the matter at the FBI and dismissing employees in DHS’ Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency. Their work focused on combating false information online and identifying methods to protect elections from potential cyberattacks. — “Experts are alarmed that the cuts could leave the United States defenseless against covert foreign influence operations and embolden foreign adversaries seeking to disrupt democratic governments.” — “CISA has also forced out more than a dozen officials who had been monitoring foreign influence operations targeting the nation’s elections. They were among the more than 130 positions eliminated in total at the agency, according to a department statement.”
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