Downtown’s full-court press to seal tax deal

By Caitlin Oprysko

With Daniel Lippman

BUSINESS TRADES RAMP UP PRESSURE FOR TAX DEAL: The House Ways and Means Committee voted by a wide margin this afternoon to send its bipartisan tax package to the House floor, per our Benjamin Guggenheim — a positive sign for the deal to restore a handful of prized business tax breaks in exchange for beefing up the Child Tax Credit.

— Despite today’s vote, the bill, which revives several deductions from the 2017 GOP tax bill that have since begun to phase out, faces a steeper climb out of the full chamber — and D.C.’s most powerful business lobbies aren’t leaving their cherished tax breaks to chance. Ahead of the markup, more than 250 trade associations representing a broad swath of industries implored lawmakers to move swiftly on the bill.

— “Congress must act to protect the thousands of small and medium businesses, hundreds of thousands of family-supporting jobs and billions of dollars of pro-growth investments supported by these provisions,” the groups wrote in a letter to congressional leadership.

— The letter, which urged lawmakers to enact the package “immediately,” was spearheaded by the National Association of Manufacturers and other signatories include the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Business Roundtable, Associated Builders and Contractors, Associated Equipment Distributors, National Association of Broadcasters, National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors, Semiconductor Industry Association, American Car Rental Association, the International Franchise Association and more.

— The National Association of Manufacturers has kept the pressure up this week with ads in the hometown newspapers of key lawmakers like Senate Finance ranking member Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and House Speaker Mike Johnson.

— Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Chamber pointed PI to a seven-figure ad buy that began last month boosting more than a dozen lawmakers in battleground districts, and the Business Roundtable is revving up its own seven-figure ad blitz highlighting the importance of the business tax breaks, with placements on radio and podcast platforms, digital, newsletter and print.

— “Swift enactment of this legislation would not only reinvigorate domestic capital investment and innovation but also strengthen and expand the American workforce,” Neil Bradley, the Chamber’s chief policy officer, wrote in a separate letter Thursday to Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.) and ranking member Richard Neal (D-Mass.).

— In a statement after the markup, Bradley warned that “failing to extend these critical business tax provisions would harm American businesses and future economic growth with the costs disproportionally born[e] by employees.” The Chamber spokesperson added that the group has had “countless” meetings with lawmakers “to educate them about the perils of continued inaction, highlighting the real-world impacts to member companies of all sizes and their employees.”

TGIF, and welcome to PI. Send lobbying tips: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter: @caitlinoprysko.

TURF WAR BREWING: “The Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission are deep in discussions over which agency can probe OpenAI, including the ChatGPT creators’ involvement with Microsoft, on antitrust grounds,” our Josh Sisco reports.

— “The FTC initiated talks with the DOJ months ago to figure out which one can review the matter, according to three people with knowledge of the matter. But neither agency is ready to relinquish jurisdiction, the people said, which must be resolved before the government can formally intervene in one of the most high-profile and controversial tech partnerships in recent years.”

— “Microsoft has put billions of dollars into OpenAI over the last several years. OpenAI is using Microsoft’s vast computing resources to develop its technology, and the software giant is integrating OpenAI’s services into its core businesses, including the Bing search engine.”

— “The discussions are largely limited to Microsoft and OpenAI and are not part of a broader dialogue over which agency will investigate artificial intelligence issues, the people said. However, there is a separate interagency debate that started more recently over who can investigate these companies for allegedly illegally scraping content from websites to train their AI models, according to some of the people.”

FARA FRIDAY: The U.S. subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund has hired the PR firm RF Binder to craft a new “brand identity” and social media strategy. The firm will create a new logo for Manhattan-based USSA International, which is wholly owned by the Public Investment Fund, and launch a website for USSA along with beefing up the unit’s presence on LinkedIn, according to documents filed with the Justice Department this week.

— The firm will have an estimated budget of around $141,000 for its work, which will aim to convey how PIF “is enabling the creation of sectors and opportunities and driving transformation in Saudi Arabia, enabling stakeholders to fully appreciate The Public Investment Fund's current and future contributions to society, and communicating The Public Investment Fund's focus on generating sustainable returns for the benefit of economic growth and diversification of the economy of Saudi Arabia and its people,” according to a copy of the contract filed with DOJ.

— RF Binder’s eight-person team told the DOJ the firm’s work would not include advocacy before any U.S. government official. USSA’s rebranding effort comes as the subsidiary got hit with a subpoena last September from the Senate subcommittee investigating the PIF-bankrolled union between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour.

A NEW WARNING ON SOOT STANDARD: With the EPA poised “to significantly strengthen limits on fine particle matter, one of the nation’s most widespread deadly air pollutants,” The Washington Post’s Maxine Joselow reports that “several major companies, trade associations and some Democratic lobbyists are trying to preempt the rule by suggesting it could harm President Biden’s reelection chances in key swing states.”

— “They say the tougher standard for soot and other pollutants could destroy factory jobs and investments in the Midwest and elsewhere, undermining Biden’s pitch that he has revitalized these areas more than Donald Trump, the GOP presidential front-runner.”

— “Public health advocates strongly disagree with the industry’s assertions. They say strengthening the soot standard would yield significant medical and economic benefits by preventing thousands of hospitalizations, lost workdays and lost lives, particularly in communities of color that are disproportionately exposed to unhealthy air.”

IN MEMORIAM: “Michael Berman, a political strategist who came to Washington as a top aide to Vice President Walter Mondale and built a career as an eclectic insider who helped organize Democratic conventions, lobbied lawmakers and wrote a heartfelt book about his struggles with obesity, died Jan. 12 at a Washington hospital” at the age of 84, the Post’s Brian Murphy writes.

— Berman, a co-founder of the Duberstein Group, “was under medical care after a stroke, said his wife, Debbie Cowan. For decades after the Carter administration, Mr. Berman was a prominent member of two distinct Washington castes: the behind-the-scenes political operatives and the well-connected lobbyists whose respective powers come from their access to the powerful.”

JOIN 1/31 FOR A TALK ON THE RACE TO SOLVE ALZHEIMER’S: Breakthrough drugs and treatments are giving new hope for slowing neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease and ALS. But if that progress slows, the societal and economic cost to the U.S. could be high. Join POLITICO, alongside lawmakers, official and experts, on Jan. 31 to discuss a path forward for better collaboration among health systems, industry and government. REGISTER HERE.

— Beth Connolly is joining Winning Strategies Washington as a senior principal. She previously was assistant director of the Office of Public Health within the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.

— Mark Fenoughty is now CFO at Crowell & Moring. He most recently was senior director of finance at DLA Piper.

— Ruta Kalvaitis Skučas is now partner at Crowell & Moring in the environment, energy and natural resources practice group, per Morning Energy. She most recently was a partner at K&L Gates and is a FERC alum.

— Erin O’Malley has joined the Coalition for Trust in Health & Science as its executive director, Morning Pulse reports. She previously was senior director for policy at the trade group America’s Essential Hospitals.

— Tim Maurer has joined Microsoft as senior director for cybersecurity, leading Microsoft’s global cybersecurity policy team, per Morning Tech. Maurer was most recently a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and is a Biden National Security Council and DHS alum.

None.

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