With Daniel Lippman

FLYING IN: Trade groups and companies representing a broad range of industries are blanketing the Hill this week as they try and press lawmakers on their pet issues before Congress ditches town for a monthlong recess — with must-pass bills to fund the government and set policy on farming and nutrition, aviation and defense and more looming once they return.

— Vending machine and other convenience service operators and suppliers are in town with the National Automatic Merchandising Association to push for language in the farm bill that would allow convenience services like vending machines to accept SNAP EBT benefits as a means to alleviate food deserts. NAMA members are also lobbying for a bill that aims to stem the outbreak of catalytic converter thefts that has hit the delivery vehicles servicing the industry.

— Chief executives from the American Trucking Associations, American Truck Dealers and National Association of Truck Stop Operators are meeting with lawmakers and members of the Biden administration today as part of a fly-in organized by the Clean Freight Coalition. Trucking execs and representatives from the Truckload Carriers Association, National Tank Truck Carriers and the National Motor Freight Traffic Association are calling for more investment from the Biden administration in charging infrastructure for heavy duty electric trucks.

— Truckers are also set to meet with Sens. Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) and Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) and Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) and Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.) to push for the repeal of the federal excise tax on trucks and trailers and discuss issues with EPA’s greenhouse gas emissions rulemaking for the sector.

— The Academy of Doctors of Audiology is also flying members in to rally lawmakers behind a bill that would expand Medicare recipients’ access to hearing services offered by audiologists. The trade group has nearly three dozen meetings planned, including with Reps. Kim Schrier (D-Wash.), Deb Ross (D-N.C.), Randy Feenstra (R-Iowa), Bill Johnson (R-Ohio), Buddy Carter (R-Ga.), Guy Reschenthaler (R-Pa.), and Sens. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa).

Happy Wednesday and welcome to PI. Send lobbying tips: [email protected]. And be sure to follow me on Twitter: @caitlinoprysko.

HOLDING THEIR FIRE: “Republican lobbyists on K Street aren’t rushing to back Donald Trump in his third run for the White House,” our Hailey Fuchs reports, “but they’re not rallying in full force behind an alternative either.”

— “While some lobbyists are doling out cash, others are fearful that any type of public opposition to the former president could make them persona non grata in D.C. should he get back to the White House.”

— “Interviews with nine Republican lobbyists reveal a corner of K Street largely paralyzed during the early GOP primary. GOP influence peddlers, who can help shepherd substantial financial resources behind a campaign, are concerned about the down-ballot effects of having Trump at the top of the ticket.”

— “But they are intentionally not getting behind the various candidates, some citing the Trump team’s predilection for revenge on those deemed disloyal or the potential cost on their access should they back alternative candidates.”

— “‘Why would I cut my nose off to spite my face?’ said one Republican lobbyist, who spoke freely only on the condition they not be named. The lobbyist privately supports South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott but hasn’t donated to his campaign, according to FEC filings. ‘Other lobbyists may have more morals and principles, and good for them, but I get my calls returned faster.’”

— “Everybody’s got to manage their own risk,” said Chartwell Strategy Group’s David Tamasi, who’s supporting former New Jersey governor (and former fellow lobbyist) Chris Christie. “They don’t want to be in a situation where they got exposure with clients because they ended up on the wrong side of the card.”

WYDEN GOES AFTER TAX BREAKS FOR PGA TOUR, WEALTH FUNDS: “Senate Finance Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) introduced legislation Wednesday that would make golf league PGA Tour ineligible for tax-exempt status and strip significant tax benefits from the sovereign wealth funds of a handful of countries,” POLITICO’s Benjamin Guggenheim reports, making good on a threat issued in the aftermath of the Tour’s announcement that it would join forces with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

— “Wyden’s first bill would bar sports organizations with assets exceeding $500 million from claiming tax-exempt status. PGA Tour had over $1.1 billion in revenue and $3.9 billion in assets in 2020, making it the largest sports organization to claim classification as a 501(c)(6) tax-exempt entity.”

— “But Wyden’s second bill goes a step further by targeting tax benefits available to not only Saudi Arabia’ sovereign wealth fund but also the wealth funds of a handful of other countries that don’t have a tax treaty or free trade agreement with the U.S.”

— “Funds with more than $100 billion available for investment globally that belong to nations designated by the State Department as ‘foreign countries’ of concern would also be made ineligible for the benefits, which are used by foreign governments to generate dividends, interest and capital gains from many of their investments in the U.S. tax-free.”

— In addition to PIF and other Saudi wealth funds, his bill would strip the tax benefit from funds from Russia, China, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, and includes a grandfather clause for some prior investments.

SPARTZ SPARS WITH BEEF LOBBYIST: A dispute over an amendment for a House agriculture appropriations bill turned personal on Tuesday, with the amendment’s sponsor, Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.), going after a beef industry lobbyist who suggested the congresswoman didn’t fully understand the issue at hand.

— Per Morning Ag, Spartz’s amendment to the House Agriculture-FDA spending bill would limit taxpayer dollars to checkoff boards, triggering coordinated pushback from commodity trade groups representing beef, soybean, pork and milk producers.

— Ethan Lane, the vice president of government affairs for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, noted to an industry publication that checkoff programs are funded by contributions from producers. “It really speaks to the fact that Representative Spartz and her team don’t understand completely the issue that they’re attempting to impact with the amendment,” he said.

— In response, Spartz went after Lane directly in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter). “Before Ethan Lane @BeefUSA insults me like I don’t know what I’m talking about, maybe he should take his fancy suit off & spend a day on a combine & under it getting his hands greasy,” she wrote. “Maybe then he’d care where checkoff fees he profits from are spent.”

— “I’m sorry that Congresswoman is upset, but the simple fact is the farmers and ranchers we represent disagree with her and insulting me won’t change that,” Lane told PI in an email.

SPOTTED at a launch party for Modern Fortis last night at Bobby Van’s, per a tipster: Reps. Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.), Jim Himes (D-Conn.), Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) former Reps. Kathleen Rice and Stephanie Murphy, Scott Fairchild of Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto’s (D-Nev.) office, Sean Gard of Rep. Gwen Moore’s (D-Wis.) office, Aaron Poe of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s office, Mary Werden of Rep. Frank Pallone’s (D-N.J.) office, Ethan Sonnichsen of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, Gina Rigby-House of Aflac, Ray Beeman of Washington Council Ernst & Young, Minh Ta of Carlyle Group, Tim Trysla of Alston & Bird, Ali Wolpert of the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, Michelle Barth of NASA, Yvonne McIntyre of PG&E, Chris Michalakis of United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, Becky Levin of AFSCME and Tizzy Brown of GlobalWIN.

— Matthew Gallagher is now head of D.C. communications and public affairs at Invariant. He previously was an executive vice president at BCW Global.

— Michelle Atwood is now political director at LPAC, a national PAC focused on electing LGBTQ women and nonbinary people to office. Atwood was most recently political manager at the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund.

— Ben Harris will be vice president and director of economic studies at the Brookings Institution. He most recently was assistant secretary for economic policy and chief economist at the Treasury Department.

— Carla Picasso has been promoted to senior associate at the Herald Group. She was previously an associate.

— Kea Matory is now chief external relations officer at Purdue Applied Research Institute, per Morning Defense. She was most recently director of legislative policy for the National Defense Industrial Association.

SAPRAICONE VICTORY FUND (SAP PAC, Sapraicone for Congress)

Drain the Swamp PAC (Super PAC)
SAP PAC (Leadership PAC: Michael Sapraicone)
United for Common Sense (Super PAC)
YR Victory Fund (PAC)

Blank Rome Government Relations: Delfin Midstream Inc.
Boundary Stone Partners: Stax Engineering
Capitol Meteorologics: Windborne Systems
Capitol Tax Partners, LLP: Diamond Foundry, Inc.
Debrunner & Associates, Inc.: Adventist Health
Holland & Knight LLP: Center For Humane Technology
Mercury Public Affairs, LLC: City Of Fort Payne Alabama
M.J. Simon & Company, LLC: Capitol Venture LLC On Behalf Of Patientrightsadvocate.Org Inc.
Patel Partners: Asian American Hotel Owners Association
Patel Partners: Charleston County Government
Sbl Strategies, LLC: Magellan Midstream Partners, L.P.
Southern Institute Of Policy Research: Southern Institute Of Policy Research
Twinlogic Strategies, LLP: Pew Charitable Trusts

Financial Executives International: Financial Executives International