Tech companies readjust to the new balance of power on Capitol Hill. Tech firms snap up GOP lobbyists

Facebook, Apple, Google and other tech titans are loading up on Republican lobbyists — a partisan shift as Democratic-leaning Silicon Valley comes to terms with the reddening tint of Capitol Hill.

Facebook revealed Friday that it had friended Catherine Martin, a top aide to former Vice President Dick Cheney, to become its second director of public policy.


Apple has brought on the GOP lobbying firm Fierce, Isakowitz and Blalock to handle “innovation” issues — presumably including debates over taxes, trade, intellectual property and online privacy.

And Google has recently added to its ranks Stuart Jeffries, who was antitrust counsel for Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee. A spokeswoman for the search giant said it hopes to add one more Republican to its federal relations staff, which is led by GOP lobbyist Pablo Chavez but still includes many Democrats.

“No one in this town can survive without having a strong balance politically,” said Ralph Hellmann, senior vice president of government relations for the Information Technology Industry Council, which represents tech companies including Apple, Google and Intel. “The tech community knows they need people who can reach into the Republican House — and potentially a Republican majority in the Senate in the future.”

Tech companies aren’t the only ones adjusting to the new reality in Washington: As POLITICO reported last week, the Edison Electric Institute — which was criticized for cozying up to Democrats and the Obama administration during the cap-and-trade energy debate — has hired former Bush administration aide Brian McCormack to help it on the Hill.

The red shift is business as usual for much of Washington, a regular changing of the guard that happens whenever one party or the other seems to be on the rise. But it’s less of a norm for the tech community, which views its issues as less partisan than most — and therefore tends to maintain consistent lobbying teams without the usual party swings.

“From what I’ve seen, the tech industry looks to hire the strongest people they can find, regardless of party,” said Josh Lamel, Democratic lobbyist, former senior vice president of government affairs at TechAmerica and now co-founder of J2 Public Strategies.

Lamel says tech firms’ interest in having Republicans on board “didn’t start this election,” and that they’ve been trying to hire GOP lobbyists for years. And Silicon Valley is still hiring Democrats, too. Not long after the election, Apple hired Tim Powderly, a top staffer to former House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Mass.). And TechAmerica recently snatched up Kevin Richards, who led the government affairs team for Symantec.

Still, the number of recent Republican hires is notable.

In the wake of November’s election, Adobe picked up Jace Johnson, former chief of staff for Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), to become its vice president of government affairs and public policy.

Amazon this year sought outside help and signed on Brown Rudnick, and now has firm lobbyists and George Lowe and Michael Lewan working its case. Lowe has direct connections to Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and her late colleague, Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), while Lewan served as chief of staff for Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) between 1989 and 1993.

That hire, however, may pertain more to Amazon’s involvement in the WikiLeaks saga. It was Lieberman who first pressed Amazon in December to cease hosting WikiLeaks on its servers.

Meanwhile, Microsoft has also contracted this year for some new Republican help — including The Gibson Group’s Joseph Gibson, who worked for years in a number of positions for Texas Republican Rep. Lamar Smith. That’s an important pickup for the company; Gibson’s connections to the committee could prove critical as Smith, now the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, commences debate over patent reform and intellectual property rights.

February disclosures also reveal Microsoft hired the Polaris-Hutton Group. Among the lobbyists now assisting the Redmond software giant is Bryan Cunningham, who worked for Sens. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) and John Ensign (R-Nev.). But also on the team is Michael Hutton, who previously served as chief of staff for then-Rep. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.).

Officials at Microsoft note they have long maintained a lobbyist portfolio with both Democrats and Republicans.

“We have an established record of working with firms and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, and we’re being consistent with that,” a spokeswoman for Microsoft told POLITICO.

So does ITI, but that hasn’t stopped it from adding more Republicans to its ranks recently. ITI’s new director of federal government relations is Stanton Park Group’s Andy Halataei, who once worked as legislative director for Rep. Randy Forbes (R-Va.) and senior assistant to Rep. Steve Largent (R-Okla.).

But the course correction may be starkest at Facebook, whose very young Washington shop has been known for its Democratic bent since its beginnings in Adam Conner’s basement in 2007. Tim Sparapani, Facebook’s director of public policy, is the former senior legislative counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union, and Marne Levine, its vice president of global public policy, is former chief of staff to the National Economic Council under President Barack Obama.

By adding Martin, Facebook gets someone with a long resume in the Bush administration who is well known in Republican circles. She is also familiar to the telecom community; her husband is former FCC Commissioner Kevin Martin, who is now a top industry lobbyist.

The social network is expected to take on additional lobbying help in the coming months.