All posts tagged: Lobbying

Lobbying push to nix Pentagon defense contractor share buyback ban

Lobbying push to nix Pentagon defense contractor share buyback ban

Published by Sam Flores

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks at Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth, Texas facility on Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, as part of his “Arsenal of Freedom” industry tour. Amanda McCoy | Fort Worth Star-telegram | Tribune News Service | Getty Images Lobbying efforts to kill a proposed ban on some defense contractors buying back their own stock in a must-pass annual defense bill are heating up, as the House of Representatives begins to move the legislation this week. The prohibition, a version of which was included in the Senate’s version of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2027, is proposed as an amendment for the House Rules Committee to consider as it discusses the legislation Monday night. If it makes it into the final bill, it could upend how the Pentagon does business with its tens of thousands of contractors, such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman. Reps. Chris Deluzio, D-Pa., and John Garamendi, D-Calif., are proposing the amendment in the House, which is likely to vote on the NDAA later this week. Prior to …

EU Commission’s structure leaves Brussels green campaigners dazed and confused – POLITICO

EU Commission’s structure leaves Brussels green campaigners dazed and confused – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

The changes at the top of the Commission, introduced when von der Leyen started her second term in December 2024, reflect a broader political shift away from environmental topics — the Green Deal having been a key part of her first term — toward business and defense. The Commission now has its first commissioner dedicated to defense issues, while many European governments have shifted to the political right. As a result, said Sven Harmeling, head of climate at civil society organization CAN Europe, “sometimes it’s not clear which DGs [directorates-general, or departments] are involved,” which “creates challenges in terms of understanding where some of the discussions are.” One Brussels-based consultant who represents corporate clients, granted anonymity to speak candidly, said: “I think the structure [problem] is a Green Deal issue” rather than one that affects industry or other areas, adding that in their specialist area of health, “things have not changed that much.” Asked about Internal Market Commissioner Stéphane Séjourné’s meetings with businesses, a member of his team said bluntly: “The fact that the commissioner in …

Ex-Florida GOP lawmaker convicted of secretly lobbying for Venezuela 

Ex-Florida GOP lawmaker convicted of secretly lobbying for Venezuela 

Published by Sam Flores

A Miami federal jury on Friday convicted former Florida Rep. David Rivera (R) of conspiracy and other crimes tied to a multimillion-dollar lobbying campaign on behalf of the Venezuelan government.  Rivera and his consultant, Esther Nuhfer, were found guilty of breaking the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) when they secretly lobbied U.S. lawmakers and members… Source link

7 takeaways from marathon Mandelson vetting hearing – POLITICO

7 takeaways from marathon Mandelson vetting hearing – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

Early in the hearing, McSweeney told MPs that he “didn’t feel” he had got the whole truth back from Mandelson in those three answers. This would be political dynamite, given Starmer pressed ahead anyway. But later in the hearing, McSweeney corrected himself — saying he acquired these doubts in September, after it emerged Mandelson had been better friends with Epstein than he let on (“it was like a knife through my soul”). “I didn’t think he had lied [at the time]. I thought he had told the truth, and that was the basis of which I thought we were going ahead,” said McSweeney. “But I also thought if I was wrong, if he had been lying … that might be picked up at [developed vetting].” In other words, each part of the system was relying on the other to make a judgment call. Barton, too, said he was “worried” about Mandelson’s Epstein links and expressed reservations to No. 10 National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell, but added: “There was no space or avenue or mechanism for …

Capitals cool on Brussels age-check app  – POLITICO

Capitals cool on Brussels age-check app  – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

Digital ID kerfuffle  The app the Commission issued this month is the latest hiccup in a years-long effort to get tech apps up and running to check the age of internet users.   Brussels and EU member capitals have already spent two years working on “digital identity wallets,” which should be available across Europe by the end of 2026.   But the EU executive announced last July it would roll out a “mini-wallet” designed to help tech platforms check the age of their users, as worries mounted about the impact of social media on the health of children. The mini-wallet was meant to come out before the broader digital ID apps; it’s the one the Commission showcased in mid-April and is officially recommending to countries this week.   Countries that were already working on their own digital ID apps, like Denmark, France, Greece and Spain, were selected to be frontrunners in testing the mini-wallet.   According to Poland’s Digital Affairs State Secretary Dariusz Standerski, the new app is “secondary” and “complementary” to the broader digital ID wallet the country has been working on. That wallet “will always be the primary way” to verify people’s age online, he said in an interview. The Commission’s tech architecture underlying the app is designed to ensure that national applications …

Pro-Starmer think tank Labour Together plans major overhaul after scandal – POLITICO

Pro-Starmer think tank Labour Together plans major overhaul after scandal – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

“I think we’re going to have a more traditional think tank mode,” she said. “But our mission remains for Labour to win and govern well, and there’s no shirking from that. We are proudly into the concept of winning in a way that sometimes gets lost elsewhere.” With more of Starmer’s closest allies becoming engulfed in the ongoing scandal about Peter Mandelson’s appointment as the U.K.’s ambassador to the United States, a group of MPs on the left of Labour have attempted to pin the blame on the organization. Last week, former Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell called for an independent inquiry into an organization which he argued was responsible for the “toxic culture” in Downing Street. “A lot of it is completely, utterly bonkers,” Phillips said in response. “I mean this idea that they are sort of trying to connect us with Mandelson. He has nothing to do with this. The idea that we should be blamed for literally every bit of Labour policy that’s happened at any point in history, that’s not right.” More …

Bombshell moment Starmer refuses to deny lobbying for second disgraced job | Politics | News

Bombshell moment Starmer refuses to deny lobbying for second disgraced job | Politics | News

Published by Sam Flores

Sir Keir Starmer has refused to deny that Downing Street tried to give another disgraced peer a top diplomatic job. Former Foreign Office chief Sir Olly Robbins said on Tuesday that No 10 wanted him to look at “available head of mission jobs” for Lord Doyle, a former Downing Street director of communications who was later suspended from the Labour Party over his links to a convicted paedophile. At Prime Minister’s Questions, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey asked whether the PM knew his office was lobbying for an ambassadorial role for Lord Doyle and whether they were doing it on his authority. Sir Keir told MPs: “Matthew Doyle worked for many years in public service for me as Prime Minister and other ministers. “When people leave roles in any organisation, there are very often conversations about other roles they may want to apply for. In this case, nothing came of it.” Sir Ed replied: “The House and the public watching will note the Prime Minister failed to answer my question.” Sir Olly said that …

7 takeaways from Olly Robbins’ evidence on the Peter Mandelson vetting saga – POLITICO

7 takeaways from Olly Robbins’ evidence on the Peter Mandelson vetting saga – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

This is particularly wounding for Starmer because Doyle, like Mandelson, has since been embroiled in a scandal over his past association with a pedophile. (Mandelson resigned over the depth of his friendship with the late convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein in September, while Doyle campaigned in 2017 for a friend who had been charged with child sex offenses, and was later convicted.) It was in March 2025, when Robbins was making large numbers of career civil servants redundant in a restructure. He told MPs he was “under strict instruction” from No. 10’s private office not to discuss the offer with then-Foreign Secretary David Lammy. “I felt quite uncomfortable about it and I kept giving advice that I thought this would be very hard for the office, and was hard for me personally to defend,” he added. “I don’t know what the origin of the suggestion was, and I don’t know who exactly was behind it or how serious it was,” he went on. David Lammy speaks to reporters before a “Meeting in Defence of Democracy,” a …

EU Parliament’s reputation at stake in access debate, new anti-fraud chief says – POLITICO

EU Parliament’s reputation at stake in access debate, new anti-fraud chief says – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

Klement’s push for clarity over the scope of OLAF’s access comes ahead of an anticipated EU review later this year of rules governing the watchdog’s work, part of a broader revamp aimed at improving fraud prevention in Europe. It comes amid wider scrutiny of how EU institutions handle allegations of corruption and misconduct. The issue came into sharp focus during the 2022 corruption scandal known as Qatargate, a Belgian probe into alleged attempts by Qatar and Morocco to influence decision-making in the Parliament. OLAF investigators complained at the time of being blocked from accessing lawmakers’ offices and laptops. EU institutions have a “moral obligation” to “embrace transparency,” Klement wrote in OLAF’s annual report for 2025, released Monday. The body concluded eight cases last year involving Parliament staff members, the report said. “We don’t have any problems with most of [the EU institutions]. With most of them we cooperate without any issues,” Klement told POLITICO. But it’s debatable whether the agreements OLAF has with certain institutions are “enough as a legal basis for the cooperation,” he …

Kalshi, Polymarket lobby as insider trading, betting eyed by Congress

Kalshi, Polymarket lobby as insider trading, betting eyed by Congress

Published by Sam Flores

With proposals to rein in prediction markets proliferating through the halls of Congress in recent weeks and months, Kalshi — one of the biggest players in the booming industry — went on defense. The New York-based platform launched an ad campaign throughout Washington, rolling out mint-green spreads on billboards, bus shelters and inserts in The Washington Post. The ads seek to deflect the spate of criticism being hurled Kalshi’s way and to position it as different from Polymarket, the other global industry giant. “We ban insider trading,” “We don’t do death markets,” “We aren’t the house,” “We operate under U.S. law,” the ads read. The companies are looking to get ahead of lawmaker concerns about insider trading and bets placed on things like war-related deaths. Building corporate influence in the capital city is a well-used playbook. Prediction markets are a new player, and Kalshi and Polymarket are working to create goodwill with Congress and regulators, who are raising concerns about insider trading and unseemly bets on the platforms. “There’s been a lot of conflation between …