Latest Lobbying News

Big Oil wants a lot from Trump. It has an ally in Doug Burgum, the president's Interior pick

Jan. 30, 2025 14:24 PM EST

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — When North Dakota's petroleum association was going to hold a banquet honoring top fracking executives last year, it turned to Gov. Doug Burgum. The two-term Republican, now President Donald Trump's pick to lead the Interior Department, co-hosted the event — at the...

Head of West Virginia gun lobby appointed to replace lawmaker-elect arrested for making threats

Jan. 23, 2025 18:46 PM EST

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — The president of West Virginia's largest gun-lobbying group has been appointed to fill the seat of a lawmaker-elect who was ousted while confined to his house on charges related to terroristic threats against his colleagues. Ian Masters, a Gerrardstown...

Trump has canceled Biden's ethics rules. Critics call it the opposite of 'drain the swamp'

Jan. 22, 2025 15:50 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump took office eight years ago, pledging to “drain the swamp” and end the domination of Washington influence peddlers. Now, he’s opening his second term by rolling back prohibitions on executive branch employees accepting major gifts from...

Who is Trump's attorney general pick Pam Bondi? The former prosecutor is a close Trump ally

Jan. 15, 2025 16:59 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump's pick to lead the Justice Department, Pam Bondi, faced questions on Capitol Hill Wednesday over her loyalty to the Republican president-elect, who has vowed to use the agency to pursue revenge on his perceived political enemies. The former Florida...

Constitutionality of New York's ethics panel argued before state's top court

Jan. 07, 2025 19:20 PM EST

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — When state officials created New York’s new ethics commission in 2022, they billed it as an independent watchdog to replace an old ethics panel roundly criticized for doing too little to reign in public corruption and self-dealing. One of the Commission on...

Number of registered lobbyists jumps to a record high in California

Dec. 26, 2024 15:11 PM EST

California saw its biggest increase in registered lobbyists last session since at least 2011, when a change in the law caused the number to more than double. There was a roughly 10% increase in the number of lobbyists who registered for the 2023-24 session compared to the previous...

As TikTok bill steams forward, online influencers put on their lobbying hats to visit Washington

Dec. 23, 2024 17:53 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawmakers, meet your latest lobbyists: online influencers from TikTok. The platform is once again bringing influencers to Washington, this time to lobby members of Congress to reject a fast-moving bill that would force TikTok's Beijing-based parent company to sell...

Tennessee governor repays trip after ethics panel finds a group shouldn't have covered it

Dec. 04, 2024 16:19 PM EST

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has repaid about $1,900 for a trip to a conference after ethics officials found that he shouldn't have relied on an outside group to cover the travel. The Tennessee Ethics Commission released the opinion Tuesday, ruling that the...

Trump's incoming chief of staff is a former lobbyist. She'll face a raft of special interests

Nov. 21, 2024 11:13 AM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — As incoming White House chief of staff, one of Susie Wiles ’ vexing challenges will be policing the buffet line of powerful interests who want something from Donald Trump. It’s a world she knows well. During Trump’s first presidency, she lobbied for many of...

Louisiana governor's tax overhaul faces opposition as lawmakers and lobbyists horse-trade

Nov. 19, 2024 20:31 PM EST

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry is pushing big plans to overhaul the state's complex tax code to deliver income and corporate tax cuts. But a Senate committee Tuesday introduced significant changes to the sweeping reform package in response to concerns raised by lawmakers,...