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General Motors has hired Ballard Partners, which has close ties with the Trump White House, for federal representation on labor and fuel efficiency matters.
GM is in the midst of a $2.5B corporate restructuring that will lead to the shutdown of plants in Detroit-Hamtramck, Warren (MI), Lordstown (OH) and Baltimore and the loss of thousands of jobs.
President Trump told GM CEO Mary Barra in November that he wasn’t happy about the planned job cuts, especially in light of the US bailout of the automaker.
Brian Ballard, who chaired the Trump Victory organization in Florida during the 2016 presidential campaign, heads his firm’s four-member GM team.
Syl Lukis, Ballard’s DC managing director; Susan Wiles, senior strategist in the Trump campaign and former campaign manager for Florida governor (now Senator) Rick Scott; and Pamela Bondi, ex-attorney general of the Sunshine State and a member of the Trump transition team, also rep GM.
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.
Knob Petroleum, which is based in Panama City, has retained Ballard Partners to explore opportunities in Venezuela.
