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Juul Labs, which has more than 70 percent of the US e-cigarette market, has hired Capitol Hill veteran Chaka Burgess' Empire Consulting Group to handle legislative and Food and Drug Administration regulatory efforts regarding e-cigarettes and vaping products.
The San Francisco-based company, which has been the main target over the public backlash against teenage vaping, announced plans to suspend selling flavored e-cigarette pods in retail outlets and end social media promotions, just ahead of the FDA announcement on Nov. 15 to impose sales restrictions of flavored e-cigarettes.
"Our aim is to make sure no kid can access a fruity flavor product in a convenience store," said FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb in announcing the new rules to curb underage use of tobacco products.
Burgess, who has more than 20 years of experience in PA, coalition building, lobbying and ally development, is co-managing partner of Empire.
Previously, he was VP-government relations at the American Gaming Assn., director of global government affairs at Amgen, federal lobbyist at Eli Lilly, and consultant at APCO Worldwide.
Burgess is a board member of the Congressional Black Caucus Political Action Committee, an organization that will be invigorated with the January arrival of a Democratic-controlled Congress.
Anthropic, the artificial intelligence company banned by Defense Secretary Hegseth, has hired Ballard Partners for DC representation.
The Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development enrolls Venable for government relations services.
Coinbase has hired Checkmate Government Relations, which has close ties to the Trump administration, to handle matters related to digital assets as the Senate works on the Clarity Act.
Peter Thiel-backed Palantir Technologies has added Democratic firm Ferox Strategies to its DC lobbying line-up to handle data analytics and technology issues.
Former congressmen Joe Crowley (D-NY) and Jeff Denham (R-CA) have signed on to handle the “new” TikTok on issues related to internet technology and learning-enabled platforms.
