Lobbyists abound on Trump transition Presented by the Consumer Brands Association

With help from Taylor Gee, Kaitlyn Burton and Mary Lee

ALL THE PRESIDENT-ELECT'S LOBBYISTS: So much for #DrainTheSwamp? Lobbyists are all over Donald Trump's transition team, according to an organization chart obtained by POLITICO that shows who's guiding the handover for various agencies.


— Cindy Hayden of tobacco company Altria is in charge of Homeland Security.

— Steve Hart, the chairman of Williams & Jensen, is in charge of Labor. His clients include Visa, the American Council of Life Insurers, Anthem, Cheniere Energy, Coca-Cola, General Electric, HSBC, Pfixer, PhRMA and United Airlines. He worked at the Labor Department in the Pension Welfare Benefits Program and on the Office of Management and Budget's ERISA Reorganization Task Force under Ronald Reagan.

— For the Energy Department, Michael McKenna of MWR Strategies lobbies for Engie (formerly GDF Suez), Southern Company and Dow Chemical.

— For Interior, David Bernhardt of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck lobbies for the Westlands Water District and used to represent Freeport LNG Expansion and Rosemont Copper Company. He was the Interior Department's solicitor, deputy solicitor, deputy chief of staff, counselor to the secretary of the Interior and director of the Office of Congressional and Legislative Affairs under George W. Bush.

— Michael Torrey, who has the Agriculture portfolio, has his own firm representing the American Beverage Association and the Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau.

— Mira Ricardel, tasked with defense, isn't a registered lobbyist but is a consultant for Federal Budget IQ, a government research firm. Until recently she worked for Boeing.

— Dan DiMicco, overseeing the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, serves on Duke Energy's board and represents steel company Nucor (of which he used to be CEO) on the U.S. Council on Competitiveness and the Coalition for a Prosperous America.

— Paul Atkins, though not a lobbyist, is CEO of advisory firm Patomak Global Partners and charged with independent financial agencies.

— Ken Blackwell, in charge of domestic issues, isn't a lobbyist but is a senior fellow of the Family Research Council, which does lobbying.

These people declined to comment or didn't answer requests. Nor did Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks.

The Trump transition team has been flooded with interest from mainstream Republicans and Washington insiders about working for the Trump administration, POLITICO’s Nancy Cook and Andrew Restuccia report. “What will be really interesting is the number of D.C. lawyers and lobbyists who claim that they supported Trump all along,” says Ken Kies, a prominent tax lobbyist, Trump supporter and former chief-of-staff to the Joint Committee on Taxation. “They want to be able to show their clients that they have influence with Trump, even if they don’t.”

Once told that working for Trump would be a stain on their resumes, people are lining up to work for now President-elect Donald Trump as he closes in on key appointments, Eli Stokols writes for POLITICO. “He couldn't even staff the campaign because no one wanted to be associated with him,” said one Trump ally. “It’s different now, but there's going to have to be a lot of forgive and forget. A lot of people who stayed away from this campaign could be a lot of help now, and both sides will have to get over it.” Leading candidates include RNC Chairman Reince Priebus for White House chief of staff; Kellyanne Conway for White House press secretary; former Goldman Sachs alum Steven Mnuchin for Treasury Secretary; Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) for secretary of Defense.

TRUMP WHISPERERS: Trump adviser and retire General Mike Flynn's consulting firm Flynn Intel Group hired Sphere Consulting to lobby on behalf of a Dutch consulting company called Inovo on the National Defense Authorization Act and the Department of State Operations Authorization and Embassy Security Act.

GAME ON. Send tips to [email protected].

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WHAT K STREET IS TELLING ITS CLIENTS:

Squire Patton Boggs, whose lobbying group is led by former Sens. Trent Lott and John Breaux, with former Speaker John Boehner as an adviser: "We expect President-elect Trump to approach the presidency with the same tenacity and audacity he brought to the presidential campaign. After repeatedly seeing President-elect Trump defy expectations and prove conventional wisdom wrong, one cannot discount the possibility that the Trump approach, when applied to actual governing, could produce results.

"It seems a reasonable possibility that the Trump presidency could eventually take on the now-familiar characteristics of a Trump political campaign: chaotic, messy, divisive, controversial and often outrageous — but in the end, surprisingly effective ...

"With an increasingly alienated working class, a rising national debt, household income still below 2008 levels, and a blurring distinction between news and entertainment all contributing to a slow decline in confidence in the country’s future among the nation’s electorate, the barriers to legislative consensus in Washington D.C. seem to be multiplying at a time when consensus is most urgently needed. Whether our elected leaders rise to the challenge in 2017 or retreat to the short-term safety of their corners will depend much on the level of engagement of the American people and stakeholders in the policy-making process.

"We anticipate the first session of the new Congress could be marked by a year-long drive for enactment of significant infrastructure spending, international tax reform, health care reform, and, yes, even immigration reform (especially a version that begins where the Senate ended its efforts in 2007 and builds on the bipartisan work of the 113th Congress). But it will also likely bring with it renewed partisan clashes over government spending and the need to further increase the Treasury Department’s borrowing authority when the current suspension of the nation’s debt ceiling ends on March 15, 2017. That will be a particularly important vote. In the absence of reforms, the Congressional Budget Office recently estimated that the debt held by the public will increase by more than $8 trillion over the next decade."

Arnold & Porter (which, by the way, is merging with Kaye Scholer), whose lobbying group is led by Kevin O'Neill: "President-elect Trump will govern as he campaigned, which is what worries his opponents, and perhaps even some of his allies. Democrats see President-elect Trump in apocalyptic terms that may make it hard to find common ground on most policy issues, though his policy flexibility may also provide unique opportunities to work across the aisle on some issues. Meanwhile, many establishment Republicans are skeptical that the President-elect is truly conservative or even a credible change agent who can unravel the policy victories of President Obama. The political establishment of both parties fears Trump's election upends most of the modern 'rules' of the presidency and politics, leaving a political culture that is coarser and more likely to act impulsively and inconsistently, which serves to further undermine public confidence in government ...

"There is one interesting constitutional upside to the strained relationship between the White House and Congress. For the last several Presidencies, there has been a continuum of activity that tilts the federal government's balance of power toward the White House and away from Congress. The deep, bipartisan skepticism and antipathy toward the incoming President creates the conditions needed for Congress to begin to shift the balance of power between coequal branches of government back to equilibrium ...

"Republican governors will be a top target for Cabinet appointments of the incoming Trump Administration, given their knowledge of working government and their status as Washington outsiders ... We foresee a large number of business leaders joining the Trump Cabinet, especially those few leaders who were publicly supportive of his campaign or quietly served as advisers to it. There also may be more nontraditional picks inside the White House staff than would be typical, as the incoming President seeks to keep his most trusted advisers close to him in the administration ...

"One unanswered question for the incoming Trump Administration is whether he will lift the ban President Obama imposed on lobbyists serving in the administration. There are few Republican lobbyists who openly supported the Trump campaign, and the new President ran as the most anti-Washington of candidates. Nevertheless, the new President would benefit from people who can make the government work and have substantive policy experience."

BakerHostetler, whose federal policy team is led by former Rep. Mike Ferguson: "His election is a political earthquake on an unprecedented scale. Trump did not just become president; he single-handedly saved the Republican majority from certain defeat in the Senate. ... In the House, nearly every Republican lawmaker elected last night saw Trump win their district. Those political coattails should aid Trump in driving his priorities through Congress, even as he fleshes out what was a thin agenda articulated during the campaign. The most important people in Washington right now are the dozens of staffers making up the official Trump transition effort ...

"So much for Washington gridlock: The first-time candidate’s victory coupled with Republican control of Congress in 2017 will put squarely in the crosshairs President Obama’s signature legislative achievements — the Affordable Care Act and the Dodd-Frank Act, as well as his administration’s aggressive regulations on climate and labor policy ...

"What Republicans would propose to take [Obamacare]’s place is not clear. Trump and congressional Republicans have talked about well-worn GOP policies, including new tax credits to encourage Americans to buy insurance policies, suped-up Health Savings Accounts, and allowing insurance companies to sell policies across state lines."

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck's Barry Jackson and former Sen. Mark Begich: "As surprising as it may be to some, the policy path forward under the unified Republican government has already been well outlined. Between President-elect Trump’s Contract with the American Voter and House Republicans’ A Better Way agenda, the main pillars of the Republican White House and congressional majority are clear. Given the expectations of Trump supporters for quick action, there are a number of issues that deserve your immediate attention: infrastructure investment, immigration and border security, trade, tax reform, health care reform, and Supreme Court appointments. However, there are several other priorities that did not receive as much attention, but which the new Republican government will be confronted with immediately upon assuming power, including addressing an annual deficit approaching $1 trillion annually.

"Balancing a pro-growth agenda with calls for deficit reduction, which will be a top priority of the emboldened House Freedom Caucus, will quickly test the mettle of the new president and congressional leadership next year. However, as those familiar with the workings of Washington know well, a unified government – as we saw during the first two years of President Obama’s tenure — affords the opportunity to move tax reform, health care reform, and an overhaul of the federal budget under the process of reconciliation, where only 51 votes are required in the Senate. Regardless, Democrats cannot simply stand in obstruction to the Republican agenda for the next two years. During the midterms, 25 Democratic-controlled Senate seats will be up, including nine in states that Trump won. Incoming Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) will need to carefully manage his party’s move to the left with the need to preserve as many seats as possible come November 2018."

Steptoe & Johnson: The first 100 days priorities that have the support of Trump, McConnell and Ryan are repealing Obamacare, tax reform, financial regulatory reform, environmental deregulation, and the Supreme Court vacancy. Trump could cancel Obama's deferred action immigration order and federal contractor standards on minimum wage and sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination. Agency rules on the chopping block include the Bureau of Land Management's fracking rule, the Labor Department's overtime and fiduciary rule, the EPA's ozone, waters of the U.S. and power plant rule, and the National Labor Relations Board's joint employer rule.

Signal Group's Eric Bovim: "The lame-duck session of Congress, which we will visit in the next iteration of Insights, will be vastly different than what was expected even two days ago. However, two scenarios are more likely – utilizing the lame-duck session to advance the remaining spending bill or punting a stop-gap funding bill for three months to allow negotiations to occur under a Trump administration. Both are equally plausible."

H+K Strategies: "President Trump promised to 'Drain the swamp,' a term broadly applied to anyone who has held power for the past 30 years. However, voters returned many of the same representatives back to power. Though the balance of power has shifted, many of the players remain the same — at least for the time being. The bigger question now is how will they work together? Will new leaders emerge — will familiar ones survive? Is there any hope for bipartisanship?”

"Presidential elections have always been a communications laboratory of innovation and disruption, and this year was no exception. While the national campaigns — particularly Trump’s — brought the use of social media to a new level in driving the conversation — the mainstream media struggled to react and adapt. Moving forward, the media will have to answer to an electorate who seemingly lost the faith in the Fourth Estate. The related truth is that those who leverage media relations as a tool for social and policy influence will have to stay ahead of that curve in order to maintain relevance and effectiveness...

"What can business and government do to rebuild their relationships with their public stakeholders and thereby guarantee continued license to operate? Over the last several years, business and government have come under increasing attack, being perceived as 'part of the problem' rather than 'part of the solution.' Last night was perhaps the most stunning example of that trend. In many cases, business and political leaders have lost the trust of their own communities and lost credibility to speak on important public policy matters. Businesses will need to reframe their engagement in communities to rebuild that trust as will political leaders. Both need to forge more effective and more authentic relationships with communities to ensure they continue to have a license to operate and continue to provide the policy ideas and economic engine that drives those communities.

Monument Policy Group: "President-elect Trump’s stunning election victory should not mask the fact that he enters the White House with a nation that remains extremely divided and in which he did not win the overall popular vote for the Presidency. Long term success in public policy often requires the legitimacy of bipartisan support — witness how divisive both Obamacare and Dodd-Frank remain years after their passage without that bipartisan support. Although the Presidency has many tools with which to implement policy absent Congressional action, there is a reason to anticipate that President Trump, at least at first, may seek to bolster the strength of his agenda through broad Congressional support for his initiatives …

"After eight years where no senior member of the Democrat universe challenged either President Obama or Secretary Clinton on policy or politically and only Bernie Sanders was willing to stick his neck out, the field is wide open to challenge what is expected to be to be a beatable President Trump. Among the possible contenders: Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) Kirsten Gillibran (D-N.Y.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), VP nominee and Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Sen.-elect Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, and outgoing first lady Michele Obama. Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg must also be considered as an option considering Trump’s outsider success and his own immense resources."

MCCONNELL HUDDLES WITH K STREET: Anna Palmer and Jake Sherman reported in PLAYBOOK: "Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell held a post-election meeting with GOP lobbyists Wednesday night where he laid out his priorities for the lame-duck session, telling downtowners he wants to do more than just fund the government. His plan: put together an omnibus spending bill. He also reiterated his support for 21st Century Cures, a health bill that includes support for precision medicine and the "cancer moonshot" that the Obama administration also supports. McConnell told attendees to expect a longer-term funding bill in order to avoid a March debt ceiling fight and clear a path for Trump. An omnibus package is likely to find significant opposition in the House.

McConnell, who fielded several questions, also described Sen. Chuck Schumer as a 'worthy adversary' and better opponent than outgoing Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid. SPOTTED: Ginger Loper of Loper Consulting; Nick Calio of A4A; Missy Edwards of Missy Edwards Strategies; Megan Hauck of Nathanson+Hauck; Rob Chamberlin of Signal Group; Wayne Berman of Blackstone Group; Rohit Kumar of PwC; Ziad Ojakli of Ford; Will Kinzel of Delta Airlines; Peter Davidson of Verizon; and Malloy McDaniel of West Front Strategies.

ONLINE FUNDRAISING: The American Civil Liberties Union's website crashed yesterday amid a 7,000 percent surge to its donations link. It was the organization's best single-day of fundraising ever. Since Trump won, they've collected more than 38,000 gifts totaling $2.4 million.

DEAL KILLER: Donald Trump’s claim last month that his administration would not approve AT&T’s $85 billion bid for Time Warner could be a death sentence for the deal, reports POLITICO’s Tony Romm and Margaret Harding McGill. AT&T made a “very calculated bet on a Hillary administration with the Time Warner deal,” Frank Louthan, a telecommunications analyst with Raymond James, said at a panel discussion in D.C. Wednesday. “This was not what they expected. They may still prevail, but that was a shock.” Trump also criticized regulators for approving the merger of Comcast and NBCUniversal in 2011.

DRUG PRICES: Political pressure on drug stocks has faded in light of Donald Trump’s win and voter rejection of a California ballot initiative on drug pricing, reports CNBC’s Evelyn Cheng. "Irrespective of your political leanings, this is unambiguously the most positive scenario a biotech investor could ask for," said Paul Yook, portfolio manager at BioShares Funds. But POLITICO’s Sarah Karlin-Smith reports drug companies will remain under the limelight for just a little longer. It’s a “tremendous victory to beat that back in this environment, but I don’t think it changes much in the Beltway about the discussion around drug prices that’s sort of inevitable next year,” one GOP lobbyist said. “That conversation is primed and the people who are committed to engaging on drug prices are not going to walk away because of this.”

NEW PACs:

American Cannabis Political Action Committee: Non-Qualified Non-Party, Unauthorized

Draft Al Franken 2020: Independent Expenditure-Only Committee, Unauthorized

NEW LOBBYING REGISTRATIONS:

Armory Hill Advocates (formerly known as Rawlson Policy Group): My Visiting Nurse LLC

Armory Hill Advocates (formerly known as Rawlson Policy Group): Optimal Wellness Health Homecare, LLC

Armory Hill Advocates (formerly known as Rawlson Policy Group): Serendipity Loving Care LLC

Eu-China Economics And Politics Institute: Eu-China Economics And Politics Institute

Groom Law Group, Chartered: Plan Sponsor Council of America

James P. Keese: BioLytical Laboratories, Inc.

Mehlman Castagnetti Rosen & Thomas, Inc.: American Chemistry Council

SGR LLC Government Relations and Lobbying: Flynn Intel Group Inc.

The Fabry Group: Norwalk Redevelopment Agency

The Fabry Group: Parent Child Home Program

The Fabry Group: The Horace Bushnell Performing Arts Center

NEW LOBBYING TERMINATIONS:

Legislative Strategies CA: Pathway Genomics Corporation

The Grossman Group, LLC: Raytheon Corp

Legislative Strategies CA: Pathway Genomics Corporation

McCaulley&Company: Lorain County Community College

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