Staffers for House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) have spent the shutdown making house calls to K Street lobbying firms.
(Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
The House GOP whip team is the hottest road show on K Street.
Leadership staff has been making house calls to top lobbying firms during the government shutdown in an effort to strengthen ties between lawmakers and corporate interests with high stakes in legislation.
Senior aides to House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) have held 14 meetings at K Street shops during the shutdown with more on the books this week, said Robert Boland, chief of staff, and Annie Brody, director of coalitions, a liaison with the business community, in an interview with Bloomberg Government, their first to discuss the project.
The rare move to take their meetings on the road has offered a collection of plugged-in lobbyists an opportunity to probe the latest thinking from House Republican leadership and to get their clients in the room to share concerns about the shutdown.
- Lobbyists who attended the meetings said the sessions helped clients who are navigating a particularly volatile Washington with the longest ever government shutdown and a log-jam of legislation awaiting lawmakers and K Street.
It’s also a way for the House Republican leadership aides to try to bolster ties to the nation’s business community heading into year-end policy fights as well as the 2026 midterm election year.
“It’s been a good opportunity to hear what they’re hearing and take that back with us,” Boland said.
He noted, too, that Capitol Hill will have a long to-do list when the government re-opens.
Emmer’s operation has hit some of the top K Street firms including:
- Akin
- BGR Group
- Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck
- Harbinger Strategies, Mehlman Consulting
- S-3 Group
By week’s end, the whip staffers project they will have held 19 meetings at lobbying firms in Washington.
A spokesperson for House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (Mass.) did not respond to requests for comment. Democratic lawmakers have criticized House Republicans for not being in session during the shutdown. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has said House Republicans voted Sept. 19 for a stopgap measure, which has failed in the Senate.
In the Room: Caitlin Canter, a senior vice president at Avoq and former Republican congressional aide, said her firm hosted a session with the GOP whip staffers this week and invited clients to participate.
“The value in it is being able to get our clients in a room during a time when there is a lot of uncertainty about how the shutdown ends,” Canter said.
It’s the first time the team has taken its coalitions effort on the road to K Street, Boland said.
Brody, who took over the coalitions role earlier this year, said the whip team keeps an open-door policy and is receptive to hearing from business groups and industry lobbyists.
“We want to be a resource,” Brody said. “It’s been a great way to have outreach.” Read More
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