 |
Navigators Global has called in Venable to lobby in support of federal funding for its National Public Radio client.
The long-time effort by Republicans to strip or scale back federal funding of NPR picked up steam in April after business editor Uri Berliner wrote an essay about the upswing in “wokeness” at NPR triggered by the election of Donald Trump.
Berliner, who was suspended without pay after publishing his piece in the Free Press, then resigned his post at NPR.
Following his resignation, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) vowed to end federal funding for NPR due to its alleged liberal tilt.
“The mainstream media has become obsessed with doing the Left’s bidding and taking down strong conservatives—and NPR has led the pack,” Blackburn told Fox Digital. “It makes no sense that the American people are forced to fund a propagandist left-wing outlet that refuses to represent the voices of half the country. NPR should not receive our tax dollars.”
Federal funding accounts for less than one percent of NPR’s $309M operating budget.
Venable’s six-member NPR team includes former Congressman Bart Stupak (D-MI), and Yardley Pollas-Kimble, chief of staff to Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL).
Ballard Partners has signed to a represent the US unit of Rheinmetall, Germany’s biggest defense contractor, on Army procurement issues.
BGR Group signs on to provide lobbying and PR services for Terzo, an AI financial intelligence platform. Douglas Lute, chair of BGR’s international and defense practices, will join Terzo’s board of directors.
Avoq has landed Palantir Technologies, the controversial surveillance company founded by right-wing billionaire Peter Thiel, as a client.
Anne Kierig, who was senior manager of public policy at Amazon, has joined the American Advertising Federation as VP-government affairs. She takes over for Clark Rector, who is retiring after a 37-year run at AAF.
TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, which was established in compliance with the executive order signed by President Trump, has hired Valcour LLC, which has close ties with his administration.
