Peters’ former chief jumps from Airbnb to GM

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Jun 23, 2023 View in browser   By Caitlin Oprysko With help from Daniel Lippman  GM ADDS A DEMOCRAT: Eric Feldman has decamped from Airbnb to join General Motors as its top Democratic lobbyist. He’ll report to the automaker’s head of global public policy, Omar Vargas, and work alongside Hollyn Schuemann, GM’s senior lobbyist in charge of outreach to Republicans, to help lead GM’s federal lobby shop. — Feldman has spent the past two years as head of federal and international affairs for Airbnb, and before that worked for nearly two decades on the Hill and with House Democrats’ campaign arm. Most recently, he was chief of staff to Gary Peters during his time in the House and when he was first elected to the Senate. — The Democrat is one of GM’s hometown senators and chairs the Senate Homeland Security Committee and Senate Commerce subcommittee on surface transportation, where he’s become a vocal advocate for the expansion of autonomous vehicles — a profile Feldman played a “key role” in developing, GM spokesperson Jeannine Ginivan said in a statement. — His hire comes as GM looks to position itself as a leader in the transition to electric vehicles, becoming a major ally of the White House in its push to accelerate that shift. The company’s chief executive, Mary Barra, was one of the highest-profile business leaders to back last year’s Inflation Reduction Act — despite her role as chair of the Business Roundtable, which like other business groups opposed the bill over its tax provisions and other revenue raisers. — Meanwhile, GM continues to drop more money on lobbying. Its federal expenditures surged to more than $11 million last year — the company’s most since the height of the financial crisis in 2007 and 2008. The automaker spent $5.1 million on lobbying during the first three months of this year alone, its highest-ever quarterly spend. TGIF and welcome to PI. It’s not often you can say that your closet shares anything in common with Ralph Lauren’s, so your host is gonna milk that win for as long as possible. Send K Street tips: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on Twitter: @caitlinoprysko.   SUBSCRIBE TO POWER SWITCH: The energy landscape is profoundly transforming. Power Switch is a daily newsletter that unlocks the most important stories driving the energy sector and the political forces shaping critical decisions about your energy future, from production to storage, distribution to consumption. Don’t miss out on Power Switch, your guide to the politics of energy transformation in America and around the world. SUBSCRIBE TODAY.     TAKING THINGS INTO THEIR OWN HANDS: “The rift between big business and Republicans that’s playing out in boardrooms and on the presidential campaign trail is also changing how states shape economic policy in Washington,” The Wall Street Journal’s Eliza Collins and Natalie Andrews report. — The split has prompted wariness from state and local chambers of commerce about top Republican lawmakers’ disdain for their national counterparts at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Some of those groups have begun to work around the U.S. Chamber to manage their relationships with top House Republicans like House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise. — “‘It’s pretty common knowledge that the House leadership on the Republican side is not very enamored with the U.S. Chamber,’ said former GOP Rep. Matt Salmon, a registered lobbyist who Arizona and Texas have hired to set up meetings with McCarthy and Scalise. The state chambers ‘don’t want to let go of those opportunities to share their message of a pro-business, pro-commerce agenda.’” — Neil Bradley, the Chamber’s chief policy officer, refuted the idea that the organization had seen its influence diminished. In a statement to PI, Chamber spokesperson Kasper Zeuthen defended moves that had upset Republicans. — “Our agenda is driven by our members. Most of the time that aligns with the agenda of the majority of elected officials, sometimes it does not,” he said, adding that the Chamber’s position was aligned with House Republican leadership on all five pieces of legislation that it has key voted this year. He also pointed to Chamber lawsuits against a half dozen federal agencies seeking to block Biden administration policies. NO TELLING FOR NO LABELS: “No Labels’ bid to run a third party presidential candidate in 2024 has sparked a number of questions about political motivations. Chief among them: Who, exactly, is paying for this thing?” our Heidi Przybyla and Shia Kapos write. — “The centrist group consists of a constellation of entities, some of which disclose donor names,” but its main organ is structured as a nonprofit, meaning it isn’t subject to any of those requirements. “And in an interview with POLITICO, its CEO, Nancy Jacobson, declined to do so, saying simply that it was a ‘mixed’ pool of individual contributors including ‘people that want to help our country.’” — The group’s chief strategist argued that decision protects donors’ privacy and safety, but “No Labels’ refusal to reveal donor identities has worsened tensions in Washington, where a smattering of Democratic and anti-Donald Trump conservatives have accused the group of potentially kneecapping President Biden’s reelection.” — “They say that unlike other nonprofit groups, No Labels is essentially running a presidential campaign without the requirements that apply to formal political parties; namely disclosures. Experts in campaign finance law say that the organization is walking right up to the line of what is permissible.” TIKTOK’S COMMS SHAKEUP: Video sharing platform TikTok announced the departure of a key executive on Thursday in addition to naming a new face for its communications shop as the app continues to fight for survival in the U.S. — “V. Pappas, who joined TikTok as chief operating officer to run its North American business in 2018, will become a strategic adviser to the company,” The New York Times’ Sapna Maheshwari reports. “Adam Presser, TikTok’s chief of staff, will become its head of operations.” — “The company also said Zenia Mucha would oversee its sprawling communications team. Ms. Mucha, who led a 500-person global media relations team at Disney for many years, was described in a 2021 New York Times profile as ‘combative’ and a ‘leadership team bedrock’ who had a voice in most major corporate decisions at Disney.” — “TikTok’s leadership is changing at a pivotal time, as the app faces tremendous pressure over its ownership by the Chinese company ByteDance and questions around its data and privacy practices. Montana’s governor recently signed a bill banning TikTok in the state as of next year, and the app has been prohibited at universities, at government agencies and by the military. — “The Biden administration has also pushed for a potential sale of the app to satisfy national security concerns,” and the platform’s chief executive Shou Chew has come under fresh scrutiny in recent weeks over accusations that he misled lawmakers during a combative hearing about where TikTok user data is stored. Jobs Report — Chris McCannell has been named deputy managing director of the D.C. office for GrayRobinson. — Victoria Coates will be vice president of the Heritage Foundation’s Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy. She was previously a senior fellow in international affairs and national security and is a Trump administration and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) alum. — Richard Reeves will be launching the American Institute for Boys and Men, a new research organization. He currently is a Brookings Institution senior fellow. — Sam Taussig has joined The RXN Group as a principal. He was previously head of global affairs at the fintech Kabbage. New Joint Fundraisers None. New PACs Indivisible Action Arizona (Super PAC) KTMC Federal PAC (PAC) Moving Chicago Forward (Super PAC) New Lobbying REGISTRATIONS Crossroads Strategies, LLC: Artera Inc. Crossroads Strategies, LLC: Strata Clean Energy, LLC Crossroads Strategies, LLC: Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated Dc Legislative And Regulatory Services, Inc.: Douglas Products Foley Hoag LLP: Alliance For Regenerative Medicine Hill East Group, LLC: Security Scorecard Holland & Knight LLP: Hermeus Corporation Jumpstart For Young Children, Inc: Jumpstart For Young Children, Inc Mcguirewoods Consulting (A Subsidiary Of Mcguirewoods LLP): Cua Opco, LLC Pace, LLP: Nation’s Finest Pacific Partners: International Chamber Of Commerce New Lobbying Terminations Atlas Advocacy: Central West Virginia Regional Airport Authority Bockorny Group, Inc.: Booster Fuels Invariant LLC: Coinflip Invariant LLC: Leaflink, Inc. Invariant LLC: Pra Group, Inc. National Group, LLP: C2C Innovative Solutions   LISTEN TO POLITICO'S ENERGY PODCAST: Check out our daily five-minute brief on the latest energy and environmental politics and policy news. 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