Blackburn, Carr aide headed back to K Street

Politico

2 days ago

With Daniel Lippman
FIRST IN PI — SUSSKIND JOINING ACG: Jamie Susskind, a tech policy veteran who most recently served as Sen. Marsha Blackburn's legislative director, is returning to K Street, where she'll be a partner at ACG Advocacy.
— Susskind has spent the past four years working alongside the Tennessee Republican as Blackburn was at the forefront of some of the Hill's recent tech policy fights — including over the artificial intelligence moratorium in the reconciliation bill and kids' online safety. Before joining Blackburn's office, Susskind was vice president of policy and regulatory affairs at the Consumer Technology Association and worked at the FCC, where she served as chief of staff to current Chair Brendan Carr.
— One of the biggest factors that drew Susskind to ACG was the reputation of the firm's intellectual property practice, she said. (Editor's note: ACG lobbies for POLITICO's parent company, Axel Springer, on copyright issues, according to disclosure filings.)
— Blackburn has been a leader on AI copyright bills, due in part to the senator's close ties to the entertainment industry back in Tennessee. 'The intersection of AI and intellectual property has been a big thing, and I know that ACG has been very engaged on those issues, so I'm hopeful I can continue doing that and working with the creative community on those issues,' Susskind told PI.
— Susskind also envisions helping ACG's clients navigate Carr's FCC as the agency — and its outspoken leader — work through how to tackle a range of ever-evolving technologies. 'I'm hopeful that … I can work with clients to give them an understanding of where the Carr office might fall on things, what the commission might do, what the different options are,' she said.
Happy Thursday and welcome to PI. Send tips, questions, complaints: Add me on Signal at caitlinoprysko.17, email me at [e-mail], and be sure to follow me on X: @caitlinoprysko.
SELLING THE MEGABILL: 'The conservative group Americans for Prosperity is launching a $6 million campaign to support messaging in support of the megabill, including digital and TV ad buys, touting some of the bill's popular provisions,' POLITICO's Andrew Howard scoops.
— The ad buy comes as lawmakers trickle back home for the August recess, where they will work to sell the domestic policy law — which the Koch-backed group previously pledged $20 million in spending to get over the finish line — by promoting its extension of tax breaks and funding for immigration enforcement while beating back attacks on issues like the bill's Medicaid cuts. The campaign 'includes a new 30-second spot that touts 'growing our economy' and 'keeping our country safe,' as well as events with lawmakers across the country' during the recess.
LEANING INTO MAHA: The leading trade group for the medical device industry is hitching its wagon to the Make America Healthy Again movement popularized by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as part of a new six-figure public affairs campaign launched this week.
— The campaign from AdvaMed featured a full-page ad in Wednesday's Washington Times as well as an op-ed from CEO Scott Whitaker heralding the ways medtech can help with Kennedy's mission to drastically cut down on chronic disease in America.
— While Kennedy's quest is rooted in deep skepticism of corporate power over both health and nutrition policy, the secretary has also called for a greater embrace of wearable health technology. Meanwhile at a White House summit Wednesday, President Donald Trump tasked dozens of tech and health companies with creating a nationwide network with which patients can access and track health records, which won plaudits from AdvaMed.
— But the medtech industry has been raising alarms for months about the potential impacts of Trump's tariff policies, which Whitaker told Congress this spring could snarl the industry's fragile supply chains and end up increasing costs for one of the industry's biggest customers: the federal government.
— Whitaker told PI today that there were several promising developments on trade over the past few weeks, but he has stressed the need for 'flexibility' for the industry, as well as speedier Food and Drug Administration approvals and improved reimbursement from programs like Medicare and Medicaid.
— 'Our mission is — and always has been — to help make Americans healthy, and it is the core of what we do as medtech across so many different categories of care,' Whitaker said in an interview. As for the timing of the campaign, 'it struck me as a good time to remind public policy makers about who we are, what medtech does, and what value it brings to a healthier society,' he added.
GOLDMAN TAPS NEW CHIEF LOBBYIST: 'Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s chief global lobbyist, Michael Paese, is moving on after 16 years and will be replaced by a lifelong Republican at the helm of a team pushing the Wall Street bank's policy goals on the Trump administration,' Bloomberg's Todd Gillespie reports.
— 'Paese, a 58-year-old former Democratic lawyer, will be succeeded by Michael Thompson, who worked for two Republican senators and a congressman from the party earlier in his career. The change comes at a time when banks are pushing for lighter regulation from President Donald Trump's administration, which has pledged to ease their capital requirements but also announced tariffs that have roiled markets.'
— Thompson joined Goldman in 2010 and most recently served as a managing director and the bank's head of U.S. government affairs. Before that, he worked for the financial services-focused lobbying firm Rich Feuer Anderson, as well as for mortgage giant Fannie Mae and for former Sens. Mike Enzi and Sam Brownback.
— The bank is also promoting Kyle Russ to lead its prudential policy and strategy, and Ryan Jachym to lead markets policy.
MENDING TIES: Trump appears to have patched things up with JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, with whom the president has met twice over the past two months, according to the Wall Street Journal's Alexander Saeedy and AnnaMaria Andriotis.
— The most recent confab — which came on the heels of a yearslong rift between Dimon and Trump — took place in the Oval Office last week and included Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. Per the Journal, the group discussed trade deals, affordable housing, and even the participants' diverging views on Fed Chair Jerome Powell's job performance and interest rates.
DOUBLE TROUBLE: Cryptocurrency billionaires Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss pressed Trump over the weekend to dump his nominee to lead the CFTC, Brian Quintenz, POLITICO's Declan Harty and Sophia Cai report.
— 'The Facebook-famous billionaires, who now run the crypto company Gemini, reached out to Trump directly with concerns about Quintenz' ahead of a Monday procedural vote on his nomination to lead the small but powerful Wall Street regulator, per people familiar with the matter.
— Despite initially praising the nomination on social media this year, the brothers complained about 'Quintenz's recent testimony suggesting he would support expanding the CFTC's budget to account for new responsibilities in crypto regulation,' which the brothers pointed to to argue that Quintenz might not be sufficiently aligned with Trump's agenda.
— 'The Senate Agriculture Committee scrapped its vote to advance Quintenz's nomination on Monday at the White House's request,' and while the White House maintains Quintenz is still the nominee, the ordeal demonstrates the level of power some in the crypto industry feel they wield in Trump's Washington — less than three years after the implosion of FTX made the industry a political pariah.
Jobs report
— Dan Curran is now senior director for global government relations at RTX. He was most recently senior director for legislative affairs at Sierra Space and is an alum of McKinsey, Boeing and Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.).
— Tara Rabin has joined Context Strategies as a senior adviser. She was previously FDA's longtime media relations director.
— Sarah Whitworth is now a senior vice president at CURA Strategies. She was most recently a vice president at GMMB.
— Airports Council International-North America has promoted Amanda La Joie to senior director of government and political affairs, Holly Christian to director of office services and administration and Molly Babitz to manager of communications and marketing.
— David 'Woody' Woodruff has joined Canadian government relations firm Rubicon Strategy as an associate. He was previously head of U.S. public and government affairs at CN Railway and is an Archer Daniels Midland, BP America and Hill alum.
— Breyon Williams has joined Groundwork Collaborative as its new chief economist. Williams was previously a researcher at Mathematica and also has been a lecturer at American University.
— McKinsey D.C. is bringing on Brent Perry as director of federal affairs and Megan Becker as manager of political affairs and leader of their new PAC. Perry previously was a senior leader on the federal affairs team at Eastman Chemical. Becker previously was finance director at the NRSC.
— Paul Lewis is joining the government relations team at the International Fresh Produce Association as part of IFPA's restructuring. Lewis was previously vice president of food safety standards and regulatory compliance.
— Mirela Gavrilas is now Elementl Power's vice president of regulatory affairs. She was previously the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's executive director of operations.
— Jordan Ebert has joined Mastercard as director of U.S. government affairs. He most recently served as banking and consumer finance counsel to the Senate Banking Committee.
— Aaron Scherb is now chief congressional adviser at Democracy Defenders Action, leading a new Stop Corruption Now project. He previously was senior director of legislative affairs at Common Cause.
— Iliana Owen-Alcala is now coordinator of the Emerging Leaders Council at the Steamboat Institute. She previously interned at the Washington Examiner.
New Joint Fundraisers
Lateefah Victory Fund (Rep. Lateefah Simon, On the Move PAC)
JF unauth (Textron Inc. Political Action Committee, Physician-Led Healthcare For America Political Action Committee (PHA PAC))
Virginia Senate Victory 2026 (Sen. Mark Warner, DSCC)
New PACs
American Covenant PAC (Super PAC)
Forge PAC (Hybrid PAC)
Forward America Inc. (Super PAC)
North Carolina First (Leadership PAC: Michael Whatley)
Possibilities PAC (Hybrid PAC)
New Lobbying REGISTRATIONS
Az Dc Consulting, LLC: City Of Surprise
Black Diamond Strategies LLC: Atlas Strategic Assets Inc.
Capitol Pathway Advisors LLC: Firearms Policy Coalition
Cgcn Group, LLC: Primient
Esp Advisors, LLC: Cornell Atkinson Center For Sustainability, Cornell University
Forward Global: Echostar Corporation/Dba Dish
Forward Global: National Wooden Pallet & Container Association
Greenberg Traurig, LLP: Impact Health Sharing
Holman Strategies LLC: Saxa Innovation LLC (On Behalf Of D Initiatives LLC)
Ikon Public Affairs: Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center
Meridian 535 Strategies: University Of Florida
National Consumer Reporting Association: National Consumer Reporting Association
Sightline Advocacy, LLC: American Hotel And Lodging Association
Sightline Advocacy, LLC: General Motors LLC
Sightline Advocacy, LLC: Haas Automation, Inc.
Sightline Advocacy, LLC: Information Technology Industry Council
Sightline Advocacy, LLC: Oracle America, Inc.
Sightline Advocacy, LLC: The Home Depot, Inc.
Sightline Advocacy, LLC: Traeger Pellet Grills, LLC
Sightline Advocacy, LLC: Tsmc Arizona
Thorn Run Partners: Evolution Iq
Washington Advocacy Group: Capitol Counsel, LLC On Behalf Of Saracen Development LLC
New Lobbying Terminations
Alpha Strategies, LLC: Firearms Regulatory Accountability Coalition, Inc. - Frac
Alpha Strategies, LLC: Nst Global, LLC
Behrco: Bridgeway Academy
Forbes-Tate: Shein Technology LLC
Meridian 535 Strategies: Dynepic, Inc.
Silver Legal Services LLC: City Of Ketchikan
Washington Advocacy Group: Okayd