Albright starts his own shop

With David Beavers and Aubree Eliza Weaver

ALBRIGHT STARTS HIS OWN SHOP: Bud Albright, a principal at Ogilvy Government Relations, is striking out on his own to launching Albright Strategies. He plans to focus on clients with matters before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, as well as “issues of oversight and crisis management” and the energy, telecommunications, health care and environment sectors, Albright wrote in an email on Monday. He added in an interview on Tuesday that he might do some work related to the Department of Housing and Urban Development as well after heading up the Trump transition team at the agency before Vice President-elect Mike Pence forced lobbyists to deregister or leave the transition.

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— Before joining Ogilvy, Albright lobbied for CenterPoint Energy as senior vice president for policy and government relations. He’s also a former undersecretary of the Energy Department and has done stints at the Justice Department, HUD and as staff director for the House Energy and Commerce Committee. He may add other lobbyists to his new firm or remain a one-man shop. He’s also looking forward to teaming with lobbyists at other firms on particular issues, which was more difficult at a firm like Ogilvy — though Albright said he’s parting on good terms. “I like variety,” Albright said. “Look at my résumé. I don’t stay too long anywhere.”

HSBC HIRES MERCURY: The North American subsidiary of the British bank HSBC hired Mercury’s Al Simpson to lobby on tax reform, according to a disclosure filing. Simpson, a former chief of staff to former Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.), who’s now the director of the Office of Management and Budget, joined Mercury earlier this year. He started lobbying for HSBC on Dec. 1, according to the disclosure. It’s the latest instance of last-minute lobbying registrations that are only being disclosed on the eve of the bill’s passage, since lobbyists have 45 days to disclose new clients.

— Mercury is the first new lobbying firm HSBC has brought on since 2013, according to disclosure records. The bank has spent more than $3.1 million on Washington lobbying so far this year (including $850,000 in the third quarter) and also retains the Smith-Free Group, the Washington Tax & Public Policy Group and Williams & Jensen.

Good afternoon, and welcome to PI. Tips: tmeyer@politico.com. Twitter: @theodoricmeyer.

APCO ADDS LOWENSTEIN: Frank Lowenstein, the State Department’s former special envoy for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, is joining APCO Worldwide as the head of the firm’s global solutions practice, according to the firm. Lowenstein was a longtime adviser to former Secretary of State John Kerry during his time at the State Department and in the Senate. He’s also a former principal at the Podesta Group. “Frank’s unparalleled experience as one of the foremost foreign policy experts and state department officials will be invaluable to our team,” Evan Kraus, the managing director of APCO’s Washington office, said in a statement.

GARRETT GOES DOWN: Sens. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and Tim Scott (R-S.C.) joined with Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee to block President Donald Trump’s nomination of former Rep. Scott Garrett (R-N.J.) to head the Export-Import Bank. Garrett’s defeat was a victory for exporters such as General Electric and Boeing and trade groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which led the charge against his nomination. Suzanne Clark, the Chamber’s top lobbyist, wrote in a letter to the committee’s chairman and ranking member in September that Garrett — who tried to kneecap the bank while in Congress — “has failed to in any way publicly describe any change of heart towards Ex-Im to explain why he now wants to lead the organization that he spent so much of his career trying to shutter.”

— Garrett’s nomination also caused tensions on K Street because he had gotten help “throughout the nomination process from Dan Murphy, a lobbyist [for BGR Group, which] counts Airbus among its clients,” Bloomberg News’ John McCormick reports. (Murphy doesn’t lobby for Airbus himself, though.) “Murphy held several coaching sessions with Garrett, said a person familiar with the matter, including preparations for what turned into a heated appearance in November before the Banking Committee. Besides the work Murphy’s firm has done for Boeing’s arch-rival, Boeing questions how Murphy can work for a nominee who has opposed the bank, after he represented the National Association of Manufacturers in 2015 on an effort to reauthorize the bank.” Full story.

DEFINERS GIVES UP EPA CONTRACT: Definers Public Affairs is giving up a $120,000 contract with the Environmental Protection Agency following blowback over the hiring of the Republican firm. The New York Times reported last week that Allan Blutstein, a Definers vice president had filed at least 40 Freedom of Information Act requests in an effort to root out “‘resistance’ figures in the federal government” after Mother Jones first uncovered the contract.

— “Definers offered EPA a better and more efficient news clipping service that would give EPA’s employees real-time news at a lower cost than what previous Administrations paid for more antiquated clipping services,” Joe Pounder, the firm’s president, tweeted on Tuesday. “But it’s become clear this will become a distraction. As a result, Definers and the EPA have decided to forgo the contract.”

JOHNSON AMENDMENT BATTLE ISN’T OVER: Republicans’ effort to scrap the Johnson Amendment — which restricts churches from nakedly political activities — as part of their tax overhaul failed, but advocates for its repeal are already looking ahead to the next chance to get rid of it, “including the massive government funding package that lawmakers are expected to approve next month,” The Hill’s Megan Wilson reports. “‘We think that the Johnson Amendment is unconstitutional,” said David Christensen, of the Family Research Council, the conservative nonprofit run by Tony Perkins. ‘It’s a priority for our organization to try and see it severely mitigated.’” Full story.

JOBS REPORT:

— SKDKnickerbocker has added James Hong as a digital strategy associate. He was previously a creative and digital manager at the American Financial Services Association.

— The Electronic Transactions Association has tapped Tim Tynan, the chief executive of Bank of America Merchant Services, as its president and chairman of the board for 2018.

NEW JOINT FUNDRAISERS:

None

NEW PACs:

Alliance for Gun Responsibility Federal Victory Fund (Unknown)
American Values Defense Fund (Super PAC)
Impeach the Donald Now (Super PAC)
Progressive Majority PAC (Leadership PAC: Rep. Pete Aguilar)
Yellow Dog Democratc [sic] 2020 Victory Fund (Super PAC)

NEW LOBBYING REGISTRATIONS:

John T. Doolittle, LLC: Phyllis Faber
Mercury: Grand Strand Business Alliance
Mercury: HSBC North America Holdings Inc.
SplitOak Strategies LLC: Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Squire Patton Boggs: Somerset Coal International
The Glover Park Group LLC: Trafigura Trading LLC
The Mondello Group LLC: Corrective Education Company
The Raben Group: Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc.
WR Consulting LLC: AGRU America Inc.

NEW LOBBYING TERMINATIONS:

Adduci, Mastriani & Schaumberg, L.L.P.: Crawfish Industry Subgroup of New Shipper Bond Petitioners Coalition
Ballard Partners: Morysa LLC