Cisco CEO named Business Roundtable chair

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Sep 14, 2023 View in browser   By Hailey Fuchs Presented by With Daniel Lippman NEW BRT CHAIR: Cisco chief executive officer Chuck Robbins has been elected the new chair of the powerful business advocacy group, Business Roundtable. — Robbins will begin his two-year term at the association of CEOs on Jan. 1. He will succeed Mary Barra, chief executive officer of General Motors, who during her two-year stint has on multiple occasions appeared to be an ally of the administration, despite the group’s early advocacy against the president’s Build Back Better agenda. — It seems that Robbins is also taking the helm of BRT as a friend of the administration. He and his wife were guests at the White House for the June state dinner with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi (Robbins previously met with Modi). He is a recent contributor to Rep. Eric Swalwell’s (D-Calif.) campaign and, in recent years, has also given to Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). — Robbins, who has been CEO at Cisco since 2015, previously served as BRT’s immigration policy committee chair between 2018 and 2020. — ”The work of the Business Roundtable consistently advances pro-growth policies that enable a competitive U.S. economy and create employment opportunities for Americans, and I am honored to be elected as the new Chair,” Robbins said in the announcement of his election. “Under Mary’s leadership, that work has only accelerated — with the Roundtable successfully engaging Congress and the White House and launching private-sector workforce development efforts. I’d like to thank Mary for her leadership, and I look forward to building on this progress and momentum to help tackle the challenges that businesses and our economy face today.” — Business Roundtable spent over $5 million lobbying last quarter, according to its public disclosure form. Its current chair, Barra, had what appeared to be a cozy relationship with the administration, standing beside Biden in a video posted last year from the president’s Facebook account to help sell the administration’s climate change and electrical vehicle priorities. The GM CEO took part in a roundtable in support of Build Back Better in January 2022, and Biden also appeared with Barra on a trip to the Detroit auto show last year to sell his agenda. — The announcement from Business Roundtable on Barra’s successor comes amid a potential autoworkers strike at Barra’s General Motors, along with Ford and Stellantis. The United Auto Workers union has criticized Biden for failing to protect the union as part of his administration's clean energy agenda. — Business Roundtable, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, and others sent a letter to Biden on Wednesday to urge the administration to help the Detroit Three — General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis — reach an agreement with the union. Happy Thursday, and welcome to PI. My name is Hailey Fuchs, and I cover money and influence for Politico. I’ll be your host of the newsletter for the rest of the week while Caitlin is off. Please send me all the tips to hfuchs@politico.com and follow me on X (formerly Twitter): @Hailey_Fuchs. A message from Children's Hospital Association: What makes children’s hospitals different? Designed to meet children's needs, with care provided by specially trained experts, children's hospitals are the primary facilities for specialized care for children and teens – no matter their financial situation. Across the country, children’s hospitals are making it possible for children and their families to experience life’s important moments – from the everyday to the extraordinary. To find out more about the work children’s hospitals are doing, visit madepossible.org.   SKDK DRAMA: “A top adviser to President Joe Biden, whose prominent communications firm helped launch a high-profile effort to assist victims of sexual harassment, rape and assault, was also a paid adviser to a powerful Illinois politician while he was being sued by one of those victims,” Tom Dreisbach reports for NPR. — “Anita Dunn, co-founder of the communications firm SKDK and widely considered a member of the president's inner circle, provided "crisis communications" assistance to Michael Madigan, the then-Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives, from 2018 to 2019. That work netted Dunn and her firm more than $200,000, according to campaign finance disclosures.” — “Madigan, who was also the leader of the state Democratic Party at the time, was not personally accused of sexual misconduct, but was being sued by a former employee of his political committees. That former employee, Alaina Hampton, alleged that Madigan retaliated against her when she reported that her direct supervisor had repeatedly harassed her over text messages.” — “While Dunn was advising Madigan, Hampton received support in her case from Dunn's firm, which partnered with the anti-harassment charity the Time's Up Legal Defense Fund. Dunn's work for Madigan was specifically focused on responding to allegations stemming from Hampton's lawsuit.” FOREIGN LITIGATION FUNDING BILL: Sens. John Kennedy (R-La.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) introduced legislation on Thursday to stymie foreign governments from funding litigation in U.S. courts. — The bill is dubbed “Protecting Our Courts from Foreign Manipulation Act of 2023,” and Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) also introduced the legislation in the House. The bill would prohibit sovereign wealth funds and foreign governments from funding litigation as a third party, according to the announcement of the bill. — “Leaving our courts unprotected from foreign influence—such as from China—poses a major risk to U.S. national security,” Kennedy said in the press release. “The Protecting Our Courts from Foreign Manipulation Act would put necessary safeguards in place to ensure that foreign nations, private equity funds and sovereign wealth funds linked to hostile governments are not tipping the scale in federal courtrooms.” — The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform has expressed support for the legislation. DESANTIS GIFTS: “Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis took at least six undisclosed trips on private jets and accepted lodging and dining in late 2018, according to flight manifests, tracking data and other documents obtained by The Washington Post that reflect his proclivity for luxury travel and leisure time with wealthy donors,” Isaac Arnsdorf and Josh Dawsey report for The Washington Post. — “The trips came during the period between DeSantis’s election and inauguration as governor. On one, DeSantis traveled to the prestigious Augusta National Golf Club on a plane owned by Mori Hosseini, a major home builder who supplied a golf simulator in the governor’s mansion and later benefited from $92 million in federal pandemic funding that the DeSantis administration steered to a highway interchange project he sought. DeSantis took four other flights on a plane that was registered at the time to John Cwik, another DeSantis donor, records show.” — “DeSantis did not report the flights or accommodations as gifts or campaign contributions and it’s unclear whether he used a separate legal option to personally reimburse for the flights at the cost of coach airfare. A DeSantis spokesman said he complied with regulations but declined to specify how the costs of the trips were paid or how they met ethics and disclosure requirements.”   A message from Children's Hospital Association:   Jobs Report — Jon Conradi was promoted to partner at PLUS Communications. — Chris Scott and Christine Senteno have established a national progressive hybrid PAC, called Advance the Electorate PAC, which focuses on young and diverse candidates and prioritizes judicial and legislative races, Playbook reports. Scott is the former chief political officer at Democracy for America, and Senteno is the former senior electoral manager at DFA. — Hal Brewster will be practice group manager for the antitrust group at Freshfields. He previously was in the litigation shop at Elias Law Group. — Benjamin Stanislawski is now comms director for Will Jawando’s Maryland Senate campaign. He most recently was press secretary and digital director at the Jewish Democratic Council of America. — Mark Schramek has joined Niron Magnetics as VP for government affairs. He previously was executive director of corporate affairs for Cirrus Aircraft. — Jake Kincer has joined ClearPath as program manager for nuclear energy. He previously was a senior policy analyst at The Energy for Growth Hub. — Kasey White is now director of climate policy at the Niskanen Center. She most recently was director for geoscience policy at Geological Society of America. — Alex Schaffer is now VP of digital fundraising at SBDigital. He previously was VP of digital strategy at New Blue Interactive. — Nile Johnson is joining the Institute for Security and Technology as senior director for applied trust and safety. She most recently worked on trust and safety at Google and is also a State Department alum.   JOIN US ON 9/20 FOR A TALK ON TRANSFORMING HEALTHCARE BILLING: Bipartisan legislation in the House and Senate would align costs for services across hospitals and doctors’ offices and reduce out-of-pocket spending that could potentially save the federal government billions of dollars. Can this legislation survive a polarized Congress? Join POLITICO on Sept. 20 to explore this and whether site-neutral payments and billing transparency policies could help ease health care costs. REGISTER HERE.     New Joint Fundraisers Kate Monroe Victory Fund (Kate Monroe, Keep America Trusted and Exceptional PAC (K.A.T.E. PAC)) New PACs UT Senate Republican Nominee Fund 2024 (PAC) Fired Up PAC, Inc. (Hybrid PAC) Conservative Leaders of America (Super PAC) The Rowdy PAC (PAC) New Lobbying REGISTRATIONS Tiger Hill Partners LLC: Dynamofl, Inc. Invariant LLC: San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors Water Authority R&R Partners, Inc.: Catholic Charities Of Southern Nevada The Vogel Group: Complete Genomics Spirit Rock Consulting: Hard Rock International   GO INSIDE THE WORLD’S BIGGEST DIPLOMATIC PLATFORM WITH UNGA PLAYBOOK: The 78th Session of the United Nations General Assembly will jam some of the world's most influential leaders into four city blocks in Manhattan. POLITICO's special edition UNGA Playbook will take you inside this important gathering starting Sept. 17 — revealing newsy nuggets throughout the week and insights into the most pressing issues facing global decision-makers today. Sign up for UNGA Playbook.     New Lobbying Terminations Jake Perry + Partners: Cyanco International, LLC A message from Children's Hospital Association: Children’s hospitals play a central role in advancing the health of all children – from prevention to critical care. Of the 6,000 hospitals across the country, only 200 are children’s hospitals and these specialized hospitals and health systems educate and train the majority of pediatricians and pediatric specialists. Children’s hospitals are where the most complex pediatric care happens and are often the only location in an entire state or region of the country where the sickest children can receive the lifesaving care they need. Because of children’s hospitals, key moments are made possible in our children’s lives – from first dances to family camping trips, birthdays to graduations – children’s hospitals are on the front line of children’s health care, treating children across the country regardless of circumstances or ability to pay. Learn more.     Follow us

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