Tag Archives: lobbying

Rail Company Blocked Safety Rules Before Derailment

Lever News reports: Before this weekend’s fiery Norfolk Southern train derailment prompted emergency evacuations in Ohio, the company helped kill a federal safety rule aimed at upgrading the rail industry’s Civil War-era braking systems, according to documents reviewed by The Lever. Though the company’s 150-car train in Ohio reportedly burst into 100-foot flames upon derailing — and was transporting materials …

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Facebook Spent $5M Lobbying Feds Over Last Quarter

Politico reports: Facebook outspent nearly the entire D.C. influence industry on lobbying during the quarter ending Sept. 30, putting in its second most lavish three months ever, according to new filings from the social network embroiled in damaging revelations from whistleblower Frances Haugen. The $5.1 million spree outpaces the company’s big tech peers Google, Amazon and Microsoft. In fact, the …

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New Security Measures May Stifle Lobbying In Capitol

Roll Call reports: Lobbyists who’ve been around a long time can regale younger generations with tales of freely roaming the Capitol — parking steps from an entrance to the temple of democracy and leisurely loitering by elevators to grab members en route to the House or Senate floors. Those days, of course, vanished long ago. And now COVID-19 has shifted …

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Trump Revokes 5-Year Lobbying Ban For His Officials

The Associated Press reports: President Donald Trump, in one of his final acts of office, released current and former members of his administration from the terms of their ethics pledge, which included a five-year ban on lobbying their former agencies. The ethics pledge was outlined in one of Trump’s first executive orders, signed on Jan. 28, 2017, as part of …

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Shady Former EPA Chief Now A Shady Coal Lobbyist

The Indianapolis Star reports: Scott Pruitt, the embattled former administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, registered Thursday as a lobbyist with state regulators. Pruitt’s filings with the Indiana Lobby Registration Commission identify him as a self-employed consultant and list RailPoint Solutions LLC as his sole client. His lobbying topics include “energy” and “natural resources.” It’s unclear what, exactly, Pruitt …

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Ryan Zinke Already Lobbying His Former Agency

The Associated Press reports: Former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has a new job: a more than $100,000-a-year post with a gold-mining firm that’s pursuing project approvals involving the federal agency that Zinke left fewer than four months ago. Zinke told The Associated Press on Tuesday that his work for Nevada-based U.S. Gold Corp., which focuses on mining exploration and development, …

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Prosecutors Zero In On Cohen For Illegal Lobbying

The Hill reports: Federal prosecutors are probing whether President Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, acted as a secret lobbyist during previous business deals, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. People familiar with the investigation told the outlet that prosecutors are reaching out to companies that Cohen worked for as a consultant after the 2016 election. Some of these high profile …

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