Vogel Group plants a flag in Canada

Politico

16-06-2025

With help from Katherine Long and Daniel Lippman
ANOTHER CROSS-BORDER ALLIANCE: As the G7 summit kicked off in Alberta today following a tense few months between the U.S. and Canada, the Vogel Group became the latest firm on K Street to team up with one of its Canadian counterparts. Vogel Group has struck up a strategic partnership with Bolero Strategies, a government relations and PR firm based in Montreal.
— The alliance 'provides us greater access and visibility to clients in the Canadian marketplace and vice versa,' Vogel Group CEO Alex Vogel told PI in an email. He said the partnership is a response to increased demand for cross-border insight as a result of the 'the pace of current policy changes/developments' on trade issues and beyond. In addition to Vogel Group's home base of D.C., the firm also has offices in state capitals across the country.
— In March, amid President Donald Trump's repeated threats to make Canada the 51st state and his tariff warnings, Ballard Partners partnered with Quebec-based communications and public affairs firm TACT. And just before Trump took office, Capitol Counsel announced its own partnership with the Canadian firm Rubicon Strategy Inc. to provide 'a seamless solution' to cross-border advocacy issues.
McKINSEY FORMS A PAC: Consulting giant McKinsey has formed a corporate PAC, allowing the company to engage in direct spending to support candidates for the first time. Marianne Casserly, McKinsey's director of government and securities compliance, and Emily Mellencamp Smith, a former top Democratic fundraiser, who now works in McKinsey's public affairs operation, will steer the PAC, according to an FEC filing.
— 'Since McKinsey's founding in Chicago nearly 100 years ago, our work has been rooted in the American values of free enterprise, innovation, and economic growth and mobility,' Neil Grace, a McKinsey spokesperson, told PI. 'Establishing a PAC will help us continue to advance these values as we engage with elected officials on both sides of the aisle.'
— McKinsey isn't the only top consulting firm with a federal PAC. Deloitte has run a corporate PAC since the 1980s, and raised $3.6 million from employees during the 2024 cycle.
Happy Monday and welcome to PI. How'd your priorities (or your clients') fare in the Senate reconciliation bill? Drop me a line: You can add me on Signal, email me at [e-mail], and be sure to follow me on X: @caitlinoprysko.
QUAADMAN TO ICI: U.S. Chamber of Commerce veteran Tom Quaadman is joining the Investment Company Institute to lead government affairs.
— Quaadman joins ICI after 17 years at the Chamber, where he served as senior vice president of economic policy and oversaw the Chamber's Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness, which was founded in 2007 to promote financial regulatory policies.
— 'I'm thrilled to welcome Tom to ICI to lead our government affairs efforts, bringing to bear his extensive experience in financial services policy,' ICI President and CEO Eric J. Pan said in a statement. 'He will markedly strengthen ICI's advocacy in matters of financial regulation, retirement policy, and tax to promote the use of asset management by individual investors saving for the long-term.'
BEING PRO-TRUMP PAYS: New financial disclosures released by the White House Friday reveal that it pays to be in Trump's orbit, Kenneth P. Vogel writes for The New York Times. The mandatory filings — which were not announced upon their release — include financial statements for dozens of officials who received financial backing from Trump-affiliated companies and groups before joining the administration.
— 'Top Trump advisers like Dan Scavino, a deputy chief of staff, and Sergio Gor, the director of the presidential personnel office, reported making more than $1 million each from media-related ventures linked to Mr. Trump.'
— Pro-Trump think tanks and advocacy groups paid top Trump administration officials including White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and policy adviser Stephen Miller, and a number of officials received payments from Trump's campaign as consultants before being appointed to positions in the administration.
VIRGIN ISLANDS LOBBIES ON TAX BILL: 'The tax bill before Congress would partially exempt the U.S. Virgin Islands from a law meant to crack down on tax havens, after a lobbying campaign by the territory's government and a large private credit firm that stands to benefit from the measure,' per Jeff Stein and Clara Ence Morse at The Washington Post.
— 'Over the past three years, an affiliate of the credit giant Golub Capital paid a Washington firm more than $500,000 to urge Congress to relax a global minimum tax approved as part of the 2017 GOP tax law, lobbying disclosures show.'
— The exemption, which has received scant attention, has received criticism from certain tax policy experts who argue it 'appears designed to benefit a small number of U.S. firms, rather than to promote economic growth or some other public policy goal.'
A NEW ETHICAL DEBATE: 'Saturday's military parade in Washington celebrating the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army was sponsored by at least four brands that have strong financial and political ties to President Trump, raising questions about whether the event benefited his allies and supporters,' Minho Kim writes for The New York Times.
— 'Palantir, the data analysis and technology firm whose contracts with the federal government are expanding, and Coinbase, a cryptocurrency firm that donated to the president's inauguration, also sponsored the event. Oracle, a database company whose co-founder is a close friend of Mr. Trump's, received a shout-out on Saturday as a sponsor.'
— UFC was also mentioned during the event and on the event's website, but a spokesperson for the company told The New York Times that it was not an official corporate sponsor.
— 'Federal regulations prohibit the use of public office for the private gain of officeholders or their friends, relatives or nongovernmental affiliates, said Richard W. Painter, who served as the chief ethics lawyer in the White House Counsel's Office under President George W. Bush.'
— 'The parade is being used for advertising by these entities with close business ties to the president,' Painter told The New York Times. 'You're in a situation where the U.S. government has been used to endorse a product.'
BETTER THAN REVENGE: 'Business lobbyists are working to kill a tax measure embraced by Republican lawmakers that would punish companies based in countries that try to collect new taxes from American firms,' The Times' Alan Rappeport and Colby Smith report.
— 'On Monday, Senate Republicans unveiled their domestic policy bill, which included a so-called revenge tax on foreign companies. That tax would punish companies based in countries that either adhere to the terms of a 2021 global minimum tax agreement or that impose digital services taxes on American technology companies,' but the Senate's version of the bill would punt enforcement of the tax until 2027.
— The latest version 'also has a lower maximum tax rate, making it somewhat less onerous. However, the fact that the tax remained intact indicates that its inclusion in the final bill that heads to the president's desk for his signature remains likely.'
LOCKHEED ADDS TRUMP ALUM: Former Trump spokesperson Jalen Drummond has joined Lockheed Martin as vice president of corporate affairs and international communications. Drummond most recently oversaw public affairs and corporate communications at the crowdfunding platform GoFundMe. Before that, he worked in media relations for Leidos and was an assistant White House press secretary during Trump's first term.
— Drummond joined GoFundMe at a tricky time for the crowdfunding site, which had been facing Republican accusations it was censoring conservative viewpoints. By last summer, that anger appeared to have dissipated, with Trump's campaign launching a fundraiser on GoFundMe for the victims of the assassination attempt at his Butler, Pennsylvania, rally.
— Lockheed faced the ire of the MAGA crowd earlier this year, when Breitbart highlighted social media posts from Lockheed's then-head of government affairs expressing left-leaning political views like support for allowing transgender people to serve in the military and diverse hiring practices, and references to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol as an insurrection. Shelly Stoneman, an Obama administration alum, resigned shortly after.
— The hire comes at a high stakes moment for the defense contractor, with violence breaking out across the Middle East and the top Pentagon officials simultaneously declaring war on the military industrial complex amid a push to cut wasteful spending.
Jobs report
— Maddie Heyman is joining Monument Advocacy as a vice president of public affairs in Monument's Seattle office. She spent the past decade with Microsoft, most recently as group manager of external relations for Vice Chair and President Brad Smith.
— Jennifer Abril will be the next president and CEO of the American Cleaning Institute beginning in August. She currently leads the Society of Chemical Manufacturers & Affiliates.
— Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck has added Matt Grinney as a policy director, and Michele Blackwell as a shareholder in the state government relations and state attorneys general practices. Grinney most recently served as managing director at the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association and Blackwell most recently served as senior public policy manager for Uber.
— Cole Randle has been promoted to chief of staff and head of corporate affairs at Heart Aerospace. He was previously head of strategic engagement.
— John Barsa is joining Continental Strategy as a partner. He previously was acting USAID administrator in Trump's first term.
— Alex Floyd is joining the new anti-Trump war room Defend America Action as rapid response director. He previously was rapid response director at the DNC, and is an Andy Beshear alum.
— Lauren Oppenheimer is joining Brunswick Group as a director. She most recently was chief of staff and senior deputy comptroller for public affairs at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
— Graeme Crews will be senior director of media and public relations at Brady United. He previously was communications director for Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.) and the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus.
— Valeria Ojeda-Avitia will be chief communications officer for BOLD PAC. She previously was deputy chief of staff, senior adviser and comms director for Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.).
New Joint Fundraisers
None.
New PACs
Civic Roots Fund (Super PAC)
DeclineToSpecify.Org (Super PAC)
Helpful Housing, Safe Streets PAC (Super PAC)
McKinsey & Company, Inc. United States Political Action Committee (McKinsey PAC) (PAC)
Tucson Families Fed Up PAC (Super PAC)
WSB LLC PAC (WSB PAC) (PAC)
New Lobbying REGISTRATIONS
Ballard Partners: Publix Super Markets, Inc.
Ballard Partners: Taurus Holdings Inc.
Boundary Stone Partners: The Pew Charitable Trusts
Branstad Churchill Group, LLC: Bitmain Delaware Holding Company Inc
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP: Axa Xl Global Services, Inc.
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP: Christian Brothers Academy
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP: Coinstar
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP: Corex Holding B.V.
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP: Daniels Fund
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP: Figure Markets, Inc.
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP: Glytec, LLC
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP: Independent Sector
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP: Junior Achievement USa
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP: National Organization To Save Flathead Lake
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP: Timios, Inc.
Carmen Group Incorporated: Pediatrix Medical Group Inc
Kelley Drye & Warren LLP: Mrcool LLC
Maven Advocacy Partners LLC: Sagint
Mindset Advocacy, LLC: Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners Inc.
Rubin, Turnbull & Associates: USantibiotics
New Lobbying Terminations
None.