They’re getting an education.

Higher education clients, including Ivy League schools such as Harvard and Columbia and state systems and others, are increasingly turning to Washington lobbyists to help them navigate Trump administration budget cuts, proposed new taxes on their endowments, and political pitfalls.

The latest is Howard University, one of the nation’s top-ranked historically Black colleges and universities, which is bringing on its first outside lobbyist in years, a former Trump administration aide whose K Street business has spiked.

Ja’Ron Smith, who joined the all-GOP firm CGCN Group in December 2023, registered Tuesday as a federal lobbyist for Howard, his alma mater, and for education and other groups that focus on home ownership and entrepreneurship in minority or underserved communities. Smith’s other new clients include the United Negro College Fund, Thurgood Marshall College Fund, Outschool Inc., the Opportunity Funds Association, Housing Partnership Network, and the National Community Stabilization Trust.

“When I started doing consulting work, always my goal, when I left the administration, was that I would still do the work I was passionate about and do it in the private sector,” Smith said in an interview.

He was deputy assistant to the president for domestic policy and deputy director of the White House Office of American Innovation during the first Trump administration. Smith also previously worked on Capitol Hill including for Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), who chairs the Banking panel and his party’s Senate campaign arm.

Lydia Sermons, a spokesperson for Howard, said that Smith would serve as a strategic adviser for the university.

Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) said he’s worried about funding for Black colleges which don’t have the endowments of the Ivy League schools.

(Photo by Grant Baldwin/Getty Images)

Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) expressed concerns last month during an exclusive roundtable with Bloomberg Government reporters and editors that HBCUs could face an existential threat with federal funding cuts.

“There’s been a noticeable increase in spending in the higher education area,” said Dan Auble, senior researcher at the nonpartisan OpenSecrets.org, which tracks money in politics and lobbying. “We’ve seen a lot of new registrations. This sector is beefing up their presence.”

Plus, the House-passed tax bill includes an increase in the federal levy on large college endowments.

Rising Revenue

Mike Williams, a Democratic lobbyist who runs the Williams Group and has worked with Smith over the years, said Smith offers clients a unique view.

“He actually sees the way to get people wins,” Williams said. “He believes in the work he’s doing.”

CGCN Group posted its biggest quarter to date with nearly $3.9 million in the first three months of this year, according to federal lobbying disclosures.

John Stipicevic, CGCN’s chief advocacy officer and a former House GOP leadership aide, said Smith had brought a valuable perspective to the firm’s clients and business.

“That depth of experience is rare, and it shows,” Stipicevic said. Read More

Welcome to the latest edition of Power Play, Bloomberg Government’s newsletter on the lobbying, money, and people moving Capitol Hill’s agenda from the outside.

Reach out with tips, news, complaints, and most importantly all your exclusives: kackley@bloombergindustry.com.

Ned’s Club has become a hot spot for the Capital’s political class.

Photographer: Frank Frances/Courtesy of Ned’s Club

Ned’s Club has become a hot spot for lobbyists and Capitol Hill denizens to mingle and mix across the partisan divides.

Lobbyists say they love the place, precisely because it’s mostly a retreat from the policy and personality conflicts that mark Trump 2.0. It’s a gathering haunt where the likes of Jeff Miller, the big-donor GOP lobbyist, glides by Heather Podesta and other bold-faced Democrats in the art-bedecked hallways and opulently appointed spaces with roaring 1920s flourishes.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re a Republican or Democrat, media, government, it’s a nice oasis from the normal give and take of our partisan world,” said Brian Ballard, the Republican lobbyist and founder of Ballard Partners, a fast-growing shop with ties to the administration.

Democratic lobbyists have sponsored Republicans to join, and vice versa. They’re wooed more by trivia nights, stand-up comedy, high-end cocktails and sushi, steaks from a Texas ranch, and some 50 hours of live music each week. But in the relationship-driven business of K Street, Washington’s best known multibillion-dollar industry, who you know and socialize with is a currency in the influence world.

“The opportunity to meet new people in a social setting is positive because to really craft enduring policy, that often takes a bipartisan approach,” said Democratic lobbyist Arshi Siddiqui, a former senior aide to then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and founder of Bellwether Government Affairs. Her registered clients include Comcast Corp. and Micron Technology Inc.

The long list of lobbyists hanging out at Ned’s includes Democrats Lyndon Boozer and former Rep. Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.) and Republicans Jeffrey Kimbell and Shannon McGahn. Lawmakers, cabinet officials, and celebrities are also regularly there: Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.); Health and Human Services adviser Calley Means; Attorney General Pam Bondi; and singer Kid Rock have all been spotted.

“We really try to make a place that’s interesting, where you bump into people that are different than you and that you can have conversations outside of things that you would talk about at work,” said Joiwind Ronen, the club’s executive director of membership and programming.

Ned’s Club brings in a variety of musical acts from go go to jazz and a piano player who takes requests. It offers three restaurants and multiple bars, and membership comes with views of the Washington Monument out over the Potomac River. It comes at a cost: the regular membership rate is $5,000 to join and $5,000 annually, though subject to change. The Founders Club membership, with access to a separate dining area, goes for $125,000 to sign up and $25,000 annually as of now.

“It’s an interesting nexus of Washington, like political Washington and business Washington,” said Dawson Hobbs, the chief lobbyist for the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America, with offices down the street.

And, he added, “They have the best view in D.C.” Read More

Joiwind Ronen, executive director of membership and programming at Ned’s Club, stands on a terrace at the club with a view of the Washington Monument.

Photographer: Kate Ackley/Bloomberg Government

Rainbow colors line 15th Street to mark World Pride.

Photographer: Bennett Roth of Bloomberg Government

Washington is draped in rainbow colors this week as the district hosts World Pride with the LGBTQ community expecting to turn out in force for a parade, concerts and other events.

Q Street, a professional association for LGBTQ lobbyists, is hosting a reception Thursday on Capitol Hill for World Pride, one of a number of events that lobbyists said they had on the calendar this month.

Dubbed “Pride and Power on the Hill,” the Q Street reception expects a long list of lawmakers according to invitations making the rounds on K Street, though the members listed were all Democrats including Reps. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), Joe Neguse (D-Colo.), and Sarah McBride (D-Del.).

Avoq, Cornerstone Government Affairs, Tiber Creek Group, and SKDK are among the event sponsors.

“With World Pride, events will be event bigger,” said Steve Elmendorf, a managing partner at Avoq, and longtime Democratic lobbyist and donor.

David Reid, a policy director at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, said lobbyists from the LGBTQ community “will be out in force as D.C. hosts World Pride.”

He said receptions and major galas were among the events, even as some companies have reportedly dialed back their sponsorship of Pride events amid concerns Republicans would not support.

“At a time of growing threats, coming together in solidarity has never been more important,” Reid said.

Washington prepares to celebrate World Pride.

Photographer: Bennett Roth of Bloomberg Government

California businesses want to stop a rash of lawsuits filed under an old state wiretapping law that targets their online data collection practices.

They are lobbying state lawmakers to pass legislation meant to halt so-called nuisance suits by plaintiffs who say that ad tracking and cookies constitute illegal wiretapping under the 1967 California Invasion of Privacy Act, reports Bloomberg Government’s Titus Wu. Such collection practices, businesses argue, should be solely under the jurisdiction of the California Consumer Privacy Act, the state’s comprehensive privacy law.

• “If you have a website, you’ve either already gotten a demand letter or you’re about to get one. That’s how pervasive this is,” Brandon Reilly, partner at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP, said at a hearing.

The bill would immunize large tech companies’ collection of data without a way for individuals to seek redress in court, according to the Consumer Attorneys of California. Read More

The Business Roundtable tapped Nasim Fussell as vice president of trade and international policy, as corporations navigate Trump tariffs and trade wars.

Fussell, was senior vice president at the firm Lot Sixteen, and before that chief international trade counsel for the Senate Finance Committee when Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) chaired the panel.

“Nasim will play a critical role as we work with the Administration to advance policies that level the playing field for U.S. exporters, remove harmful tariffs and provide certainty for U.S. businesses,” said Roundtable CEO Joshua Bolten in a news release.

Plus: S-3 Group is adding Michael Comer, most recently deputy communications director for House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), as a vice president. He also previously worked for the House Education and Workforce Committee.