ROKK ADDS COLLINS SPOX: Annie Clark, the longtime spokesperson for Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), is joining Rokk Solutions as a senior vice president. Clark has worked for Collins for close to a decade, serving as Collins’ communications director while the senator became a key swing vote in countless fierce legislative and confirmation fights during the first Trump administration before defying the polls in her reelection bid in 2020. — Collins has already played the role of potential spoiler for some of Trump’s second round of appointees, and her influence will only expand as chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee. — “I’ve spent the last 10 years in the center of some of the most intense … political battles in Washington,” Clark said in an interview. “And I’ve really learned and experienced what it takes to win, especially when you know all the odds are stacked against you and people are counting you out.” — Collins is one of just a handful of senators who was elected despite their party’s presidential nominee losing their state, meaning that when crafting and delivering a message “you’re not just talking to the already converted,” Clark told PI, adding that her time with Collins also taught her how to defend an argument, even “in the most challenging of circumstances.” WATCHDOG ASKS FOR PATEL FARA PROBE: The government watchdog group Public Citizen is calling for DOJ to examine whether Kash Patel, Trump’s nominee to lead the FBI, should have registered as a foreign agent of Qatar for consulting services he provided to the Qatari Embassy. According to financial disclosures and an ethics agreement published late last week, Patel consulted for the embassy through his firm Trishul LLC until November of last year. — “The disclosure by OGE that Patel worked on behalf of the Embassy of Qatar came as a surprise and, unfortunately, after his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, depriving even Congress to inquire about it,” Public Citizen lobbyist Craig Holman wrote in a letter to FARA Chief Evan Turgeon, noting that Patel was serving as a foreign policy adviser to the Trump campaign at the time. — While Holman acknowledged that “there are certain exemptions to registration under FARA … when a person or entity works on behalf of a foreign government, rather than just a foreign principal, those exemptions are very limited.” — He added that “there is a history of persons involved in Trump’s 2016 campaign also evading FARA registration and disclosures specifically on behalf of the government of Qatar” — a reference to last year’s deferred prosecution agreements between DOJ and two Trump-connected GOP strategists, who admitted to undisclosed lobbying on Qatar’s behalf. — In a second letter, to the heads of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Public Citizen co-President Lisa Gilbert pressed lawmakers to call Patel before the panel a second time to testify on his consulting work for Qatar, which also was not addressed in his written responses to the committee’s questions. — Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) on Tuesday shot down Democratic requests for a second hearing with Patel over a different reason, accusing Democrats of slow-walking his confirmation. EGG PRODUCERS FLY-IN: Members of the United Egg Producers are meeting with lawmakers and their staff this week to urge “swift and decisive action” responding to the ongoing bird flu outbreak, Morning Ag reports. — In 2025 already, the egg industry has lost 20 million birds due to bird flu culling, according to UEP. The group’s fly-in comes as egg prices continue to skyrocket due to the bird flu outbreak. — Egg producers want lawmakers to sign on to a letter to USDA Secretary nominee Brooke Rollins that demands the agency act immediately on several industry priorities, like creating an animal vaccination strategy and implementing movement controls. They’re also asking Rollins to support research and education on bird flu prevention, securing enough USDA auditors to enforce biosecurity measures and revise indemnity rates for disaster assistance. — Rollins, in her confirmation hearing before the Senate Ag Committee, acknowledged that the bird flu response will be “one of the very top priorities” in Trump’s USDA. ALSO FLYING IN: Corporate tax directors from members of the Business Roundtable today wrapped up two days of meetings with House and Senate lawmakers and staff to reiterate reconciliation priorities like keeping the current corporate tax rate, retaining a competitive international tax system and maintaining broad-based tax incentives for development. The tax execs met with members in congressional leadership and from key tax committees and caucuses. — A coalition of clean energy companies and industry groups also blanketed the Hill today in an effort to salvage the Inflation Reduction Act’s clean energy tax incentives, which will be a ripe target for Republicans looking to offset their impending tax package. — The blitz included representatives and member companies of the Solar Energy Industries Association, National Hydropower Association, Oceantic Network, Climate Power, U.S. Green Building Council, Clean Energy for America, E2 and the Business Council for Sustainable Energy. The coalition says it was slated to participate in more than 100 meetings on the Hill throughout the day. — Clean energy companies also sent a letter to congressional leadership today making the case that eliminating the tax credits would run counter to Trump’s economic and energy agenda. — More than 130 CEOs, pediatric health experts and lobbyists from dozens of children’s hospitals were also in town with the Children’s Hospital Association this week. Representatives lobbied for preserving Medicaid funding, addressing the youth mental health crisis and expanding support for the pediatric health care workforce.
| 
