With David Beavers, Sarah Cammarata and Daniel Lippman

FIRST IN PI — WEXLER | WALKER WILL CLOSE ITS DOORS: Wexler | Walker, once one of the most prominent lobbying firms in Washington, will shut down at the end of the year, said chief executive George Robb Rogers. The reasons for the closure were not immediately clear. Wexler | Walker is owned by Hill+Knowlton, an international public relations firm, which is in turn owned by WPP, the British conglomerate that’s the parent company of several Washington lobbying firms. Rogers told PI that “Hill+Knowlton and WPP are in the midst of a corporate restructuring” but declined to elaborate. Wexler | Walker’s lobbyists — the firm lists seven employees on its website, including former Rep. Robert Walker (R-Pa.) — aren’t expected to move to other WPP properties. “It’s been an amicable process and we’ve been focused on taking care of our clients and our people,” Rogers said.

— The legendary Democratic lobbyist Anne Wexler and two partners started the firm that became Wexler | Walker in 1981 after working in President Jimmy Carter’s White House. She helped pioneer the idea of a bipartisan lobbying firm, recruiting Nancy Clark Reynolds, a close friend of Ronald and Nancy Reagan, to the firm in 1983. “I’m a Democrat; you’re a Republican,” she recalled telling Reynolds in an interview years later. “We could join forces. It’s never been done.” She later brought on Walker, a former Republican congressman. In 1998, Washingtonian magazine called Wexler “easily the most influential female lobbyist in a world still dominated by men.” Wexler died in 2009.

— Wexler | Walker’s headcount and client list have shrunk in recent years, but the firm still boasts more than 20 clients, according to disclosure filings, including Comcast, the Mortgage Bankers Association and Weight Watchers International. The firm saw lobbying revenue of $730,000 in the third quarter. A representative for Hill+Knowlton didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Still, Wexler | Walker isn’t the first venerable lobbying shop WPP has shut down. QGA Public Affairs, a top lobbying firm under Jack Quinn and Ed Gillespie during the George W. Bush years, met the same fate last year.

NEW BUSINESS: Heather Podesta’s Invariant has signed the American Council of Life Insurers as its latest client, according to a disclosure filing. Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’ spaceflight startup, has added Barnes & Thornburg to its roster of Washington lobbying firms. Blue Origin has spent $910,000 on Washington lobbying so far this year and also retains ATS Communications, K&L Gates and Maynard Cooper & Gale, as well as Red Maple Consulting as a subcontractor to ATS. PepsiCo has hired Sudafi Henry of theGROUP to lobby on the farm bill, among other issues. And AdvaMed brought on a team of lobbyists at Williams & Jensen to lobby on repealing the medical device tax.

Good afternoon, and welcome to PI. So many tips, so little time. Whadaya got? Send tips to [email protected]. You can also follow me on Twitter: @theodoricmeyer.

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HOW GOOGLE, AMAZON, SNAP SCHMOOZED THE FTC: “Google, Amazon and Snap wasted little time this year in trying to cultivate the new crop of enforcers at the Federal Trade Commission, an agency that will play a key role in any Washington crackdown on the tech industry, according to emails obtained by POLITICO,” POLITICO’s Margaret Harding McGill reports. “The companies reached out to schmooze the four FTC commissioners appointed by President Donald Trump soon after they were sworn into office in May, according to 73 pages of email communications obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. Google was particularly active, inviting commission staff to coffee, setting up a meeting with the new Republican chairman, Joe Simons, and touting a project it said would give users more control of their data.” Full story.

DEMOCRATS CALL FOR NEW ETHICS, CAMPAIGN FINANCE RULES: “House Democrats on Friday unveiled a sweeping reform proposal that would create automatic voter registration and enact campaign finance and ethics changes, the first bill they plan to push when they take charge of the chamber next year,” POLITICO’s Maggie Severns reports. “The bill will receive the designation of H.R.1 in the next Congress, a sign of its importance to House leaders and to newly elected members who ran campaigns promising to clean up Washington. It is expected to receive early attention in the next Congress.” Full story.

HOW MUCH DEVOS, MNUCHIN, ROSS MADE LAST YEAR: President Donald Trump’s three wealthiest Cabinet members took in tens of millions of dollars last year, including from divesting holdings to avoid conflicts of interest, according to disclosure filings released by the administration,” POLITICO’s Lorraine Woellert and Theodoric Meyer report. “Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and her husband took in at least $59.4 million in 2017, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin reported income of more than $41.6 million, and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross tallied $47 million that year, according to annual financial disclosures each made to their agencies.” Full story.

OCASIO-CORTEZ STARTS A LEADERSHIP PAC: Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), like many of her fellow freshmen Democrats, has pledged not to accept contributions from corporate PACs. But she appears to have no problem with another ritual of Washington campaign finance: starting a leadership PAC. She’s registered one with the Federal Election Commission called Courage to Change.

NEW NAFTA MEMO: Cogent Strategies’ David Adams is out with a memo laying out what happens next following President Donald Trump’s signature on a new trade deal with Canada and Mexico. “The first alarm to sound will be in 60 days when the administration must send a list of US laws that need to be amended in order to implement the new agreement. This list will also form the basis of legislation that Congress will likely be asked to vote on later in the process. The President’s signature also kicks off a 105-day review process which results in a report from the International Trade Commission (ITC) on the impact of the new agreement on the US economy.” Here’s the full memo.

FLYING IN: Members of the American Council of Life Insurers were in town this week to press lawmakers to pass what the trade group describes as retirement security legislation before the end of the year. They met with Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Ron Wyden (R-Ore.) and Reps. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.) and Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), as well as staffers from the offices of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Majority Whip Steve Scalise.

JOBS REPORT

— The National Multifamily Housing Council has hired Kevin Cameron as its new PAC director. He was previously political director for Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.).

— Niketa Kumar started this week as director of communications for the Water Foundation. She was previously a vice president in BerlinRosen‘s national division.

— Ian Jannetta will start next week as media relations manager for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit WMATA. He previously was press secretary for Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.).

SPOTTED: At Agua 301 on Thursday night for a going-away party for Troy Clair, who’s leaving his job as chief of staff to Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.) to join Amazon, according to a PI tipster: Kyle Parker, Dennis Sills, Meaghan Lynch and Lindsey Bowen of Butterfield’s office; Saul Hernandez of NCTA — The Internet & Television Association; Kati Rutherford Sills of Rep. Denny Heck’s (D-Wash.) office; Edward Hill of McGuireWoods Consulting and Andrew Collins of Uber.

— At a reception for newly elected members of the California delegation hosted by Gonring, Spahn & Associates at a townhouse on Capitol Hill on Thursday evening, according to a PI tipster: Reps.-elect Harley Rouda, Katie Porter and Gil Cisneros and Reps. Brad Sherman, Nanette Diaz Barragán, Jimmy Gomez and John Garamendi, all California Democrats.

Idaho Victory Fund PAC (Idaho Republican Party)

Courage to Change (Leadership PAC: Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez)
Progressive Coalition of Pennsylvania (Super PAC)

Barnes & Thornburg, LLP: Blue Origin LLC
CGCN GROUP, LLC (formerly known as Clark Geduldig Cranford & Nielsen, LLC): The Interstate Natural Gas Association of America
DCI Group, L.L.C.: Process and Industrial Development Ltd.
Eris Group (formerly known as Bartlett & Bendall): United Postmasters and Managers of America
Givens Pursley, LLP: McFarland Cascade Holdings, Inc.
GM Strategies: CENGAGE Learning
Holland & Knight LLP: Keolis Rail Services America, Inc.
Imperium Global Advisors: United Postmasters and Managers of America
Invariant LLC: The American Council of Life Insurers
KPMG LLP (Uk): KPMG LLP (Uk)
Monument Policy Group, LLC: Brooks Bawden Moore, LLC on behalf of ANDE, Inc.
Monument Policy Group, LLC: Texas Central Rail Holdings, LLC
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP: Dtex Systems
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP: Virginia College Savings Plan (Virginia529)
Potomac International Partners, Inc.: Hyundai Electric & Energy Systems Co., Ltd
Sounding Partners, LLC: Virtua International Holdings, LLC
TheGROUP DC, LLC: PepsiCo
Williams and Jensen, PLLC: Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed)

Baker & Botts, LLP: Boom Technology, Inc.
Baker & Botts, LLP: Entergy Services, Inc
Baker & Botts, LLP: Intrepid Potash, Inc.
Baker & Botts, LLP: Mack Energy
Baker & Botts, LLP: NetJets, Inc.
Baker & Botts, LLP: Southern Methodist University
Ms. Elizabeth Walker: Montana & Associates, LLC on behalf of Omaha Tribe of Nebraska/Crow Creek Tribe

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