Heard on the Hill
What we're hearing from people we trust on and around the Hill
DC’S NEXT TOP LOBBYIST: Don’t forget to nominate your friends, loved ones, respected coworkers, or that very influential lobbyist you heard of for the Washington Reporter’s list of the most influential advocates in our nation’s capital!
FORMIDABLE HIRE: Pharmaceutical company Bristol Myers Squibb hired a heavy hitter. Rodger Currie, a 30-year industry veteran, top GOP donor, and formidable Washington strategist, is joining on as their new senior vice president for U.S. policy and government affairs. Currie has been tasked to lead the company’s federal and state engagement and direct its strategic policy agenda and will take his post in June.
CRYPTO REVOLT: As Sen. Roger Marshall (R., Kansas) pushes the inclusion of the Credit Card Competition Act (CCCA) in the GENIUS Act with Sen. Dick Durbin (D., Ill.), many top donors in the crypto space are mulling funding a primary challenge against the Kansas senator.
AIR SUPPORT: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed an amicus brief in support of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s antitrust lawsuit against asset managers including Blackrock, State Street, and Vanguard. OH Skinner, the executive director of Alliance for Consumers, backed the move too, saying that “it is encouraging to see the Federal Trade Commission protecting ordinary people from woke asset managers with unlimited power over prices and product offerings. The defendants have a history of using their customers' money to push the ideology of corporate executives to the detriment of everyday consumers.”
VAPE CRACKDOWN: The FDA is cracking down on illicit vapes flowing into the U.S. from countries like China and Mexico. FDA Commissioner Martin Makary declared the “illegal importation stops today” and that he has “personally” observed “kids from good families who have become addicted to vaping,” are aware of it, and cannot stop. Watch more here.
AI’LL CHAT ALL DAY: Elon Musk met with Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee today.
CHAMPS: The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) rewarded its "conservative champions" in Congress this week at a reception at the Capitol Hill Club. Attendees included Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) and Reps. Jim Jordan (R., Ohio), Harriet Hageman (R., Wyo.), Scott Perry (R., Pa.), Andy Biggs (R., Ariz.), Kat Cammack (R., Fla.), Ben Cline (R., Va.), Russ Fulcher (R., Idaho), Michael Cloud (R., Texas), Gus Bilirakis (R., Fla.), Doug LaMalfa (R., Calif.), Andy Harris (R., Md.), David Rouzer (R., N.C.), Bruce Westerman (R., Ark.), Barry Moore (R., Ala.), Tracey Mann (R., Kansas), Beth Van Duyne (R., Texas), Mike Collins (R., Ga.), Eric Burlison (R., Mo.), Brad Finstad (R., Minn.), Wesley Hunt (R., Texas), Victoria Spartz (R., Ind.), Carol Miller (R., W.Va.), Troy Nehls (R. Texas), Aaron Bean (R., Fla.), Ryan Zinke (R., Mont.), Tim Burchett (R., Tenn.), and Mike Haridopolos (R., Fla.).
NOT ON YOUR SIDE:Consumers’ Research launched a new campaign targeting Nationwide for what Consumers’ Research calls a DEI “rebrand.” Will Hild, the group’s executive director, noted that “Nationwide pushed discriminatory DEI policies, tried to rebrand them with a superficial name change, and then threatened a nonprofit organization for catching them in the act and rightly calling them out.”
