Programming note: We’ll be off for the holidays but will be back to our normal schedule on Monday, Jan. 5, 2026.
DESPERATELY SEEKING EXEMPTIONS: President Donald Trump’s move to slap tariffs on imports from around the globe may have been a lump of coal for purveyors of Christmas cheer, but the scramble to roll those tariffs back has been a huge gift for K Street, Caitlin reports.
— Trade groups and companies representing manufacturers and retailers of everything from Christmas trees and decor to toys and spices — like virtually every other sector of the economy — have bolstered their lobbying operations in D.C., dropping massive sums as they jockeyed for tariff relief.
— Lobbying outlays by the Toy Association — which in April warned of devastation for toymakers if an initial 145 percent tariff on Chinese imports were to stand — skyrocketed to $510,000 through the first nine months of the year. That’s up from $40,000 in all of 2024 and the most spent since 2015. In preparation for Trump’s tariffs, the association brought on Ballard Partners last December for guidance on the matter, lobbying disclosures show.
— The association also retained its former top lobbyist Ed Desmond at the beginning of the year, and in February the Toy Association brought on Ridgeline Advocacy Group to work on a number of issues in addition to the tariffs, including consumer protection, sustainability and taxes.
— Detentes between Beijing and Washington gradually lowered tariffs on Chinese toy imports to 20 percent by the end of the year. But toymakers are closely tracking the Supreme Court decision on Trump’s so-called reciprocal tariffs and the prospect of seeing tariff payments refunded.
— Trump’s tariffs have prompted some holiday brands to turn to K Street for the first time. They include the Christmas Trade Group, a coalition of holiday retailers like the ornament and decor purveyors Kurt Adler and Old World Christmas, and artificial tree makers National Tree Company and Puleo. The coalition also includes holiday florists, lighting companies and even one commercial decorator whose portfolio includes the Trump International Hotel in New York.
— The trade group has paid Williams & Jensen $90,000 since March to build ties with the Trump administration and lawmakers on the key congressional committees that oversee trade. It has also lobbied for an exemption on products like Christmas lights similar to the one issued during Trump’s first administration.
— Artificial tree behemoth Balsam Brands, meanwhile, has spent $210,000 on lobbying through the first three quarters of the year — including $110,000 in Q3 alone. That’s less than the $420,000 Balsam Brands spent in 2019, but is the most by far for the company since the end of its three-year lobbying hiatus in 2023.
— Beyond the producers of holiday decor and goods, the retailers that sell those products have been some of the most vocal tariff critics in Washington this year. The National Retail Federation, whose members include Walmart, Target and Macy’s, is on track for its second-highest lobbying expenditures ever. NRF has dropped more than $8.5 million on lobbying so far this year, already more than the $8.3 million spent in all of 2024.
Happy Wednesday and welcome to the final PI of the year. Thank you all for reading and sending tips — we couldn’t have made it through this whirlwind of a year without you. We’ll be back in your inboxes on Jan. 5, but feel free to send us influence tips to chase down in the New Year. You can reach Caitlin on Signal at caitlinoprysko.17 or at [email protected]. Daniel B. is on Signal at danielbarnes.13 and email at [email protected]. Also follow us on X: @caitlinoprysko and @dnlbrns.
YOU CAN’T HANDLE THE TRUTH: “K Street’s current playbook for clients avoiding President Donald Trump’s wrath on Truth Social is four words long: ‘Don’t poke the bear.’ That’s how one Democratic lobbyist described their advice to clients,” NOTUS’ Taylor Giorno writes. “Several other lobbyists have told NOTUS — on condition of anonymity so as not to ‘poke the bear’ — that playing defense has become an essential lobbying strategy early in Trump’s second term.”
— “A NOTUS analysis of every Trump Truth Social post since Jan. 20 indicates they have cause for concern. Trump has used the platform — his Trump Media & Technology Group owns it — to call out companies, colleges and other corporations and organizations at least 177 times across at least 129 posts.”
— “Asked where getting called out by Trump on Truth Social falls on a scale ranging from inconvenient to five-alarm fire, one Republican lobbyist told NOTUS it’s a ‘nine out of 10.'”
JANE STREET LANDS ON K STREET: “Jane Street Group has hired lobbyists for the first time in 20 years, and top executives have been proactively meeting with lawmakers,” per Bloomberg’s Katherine Doherty, Chiranjivi Chakraborty and Todd Gillespie.
— “In some cases, those appointments have been pitched as simple, get-to-know-Jane-Street conversations, part of an effort to explain how the privately-held firm makes markets and is generating trading hauls greater than many of the world’s largest investment banks in the process.”
— But Jane Street’s decision to enlist Hogan Lovells comes as regulators in India are probing “additional trading strategies Jane Street used, including allegedly manipulating the country’s biggest index to make money with an options strategy commonly known as a ‘short straddle,’ according to people familiar with the investigation.” Jane Street has denied any wrongdoing in India and is appealing a July decision to boot the firm from the country’s financial markets.
— In the U.S., Jane Street has paid Hogan Lovells $160,000 from July to September, and firm representatives have met with officials at Treasury, Commerce and in the Executive Office of the President “to discuss Jane Street’s operations in India, according to the lobbying disclosures and the people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named discussing non-public information. Separately, Jane Street co-founder Rob Granieri has also met with lawmakers, the people said.”
FAMILY MATTERS: The New York Times’ Teddy Schleifer is out today with a look at the tag-team effort by David and Larry Ellison to build out their media empire via the family’s hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, including Larry Ellison’s overtures to Trump, whose administration would need to green-light any deal.
— “Larry Ellison has taken the lead in making the case to the president for why Paramount and not Netflix, its rival bidder, should win control of Warner Bros., two of the people said. Mr. Trump has pledged to be ‘involved’ in any decision about whether to approve a deal,” per the Times.
— Trump, meanwhile, “has privately said Larry Ellison assured him that he would turn CBS News, which the Ellisons took over when they bought Paramount, into a more conservative outlet, two people with knowledge of the president’s comments said.”
PARDON ME: The new approach to presidential pardons adopted during Trump’s second term “has spawned a pardon-shopping industry where lobbyists say their going rate is $1 million” in order to fast-track their clients’ shot at freedom, The Wall Street Journal’s Rebecca Ballhaus, Josh Dawsey and C. Ryan Barber
— “Administration officials and lobbyists describe two playbooks that have emerged. There is the official track, which involves pardon czar Alice Johnson, Justice Department pardon attorney Ed Martin and the White House Counsel’s Office.”
— “Applicants usually go through one of the three, and ultimately White House counsel Dave Warrington reviews the application and makes a recommendation to Trump. The two men meet every few weeks to discuss pardons, administration officials said.”
— “The second track is riskier but can be much faster. If an applicant can find Trump at Mar-a-Lago or a White House event and ask for a pardon directly, Trump is often inclined to be helpful, administration officials said — particularly if someone says the magic words: “unjust persecution.”
— “Many of Trump’s most controversial pardons — including for [Binance founder Changpeng] Zhao and the Honduran ex-president — have gone through the latter track, which some senior administration officials said worried them. Another senior White House official said the ‘vast majority’ of pardons have gone through the proper channels. Driving up the price for well-connected lobbyists and lawyers is the sense that they can pursue only a few pardons, given the political capital they need to expend to fast-track a case.”
— The Heritage Foundation is adding Stewart Whitson as chief of staff to President Kevin Roberts. He previously worked at the Foundation for Government Accountability and was the GOP nominee in a Virginia special congressional election this year. Peter St. Onge is returning to Heritage as senior economist, and the think tank promoted Jay Richards to vice president of social and domestic policy, Allen Mendenhall to research fellow at the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies and Roger Severino to vice president of economic and domestic policy.
Cline Victory Committee (Rep. Ben Cline, Conservative Leadership in Elections PAC, NRCC)
New Hampshire Senate Victory 2026 (Rep. Chris Pappas, DSCC)
CLOUD SOFTWARE GROUP PAC (CLOUD SOFTWARE GROUP HOLDINGS, INC.) (PAC)
Come and Take It PAC (Super PAC)
Hold the Line Political Action Committee (Super PAC)
Lincoln Legacy PAC (Super PAC)
North Country Friends of Anthony (Super PAC)
Semiconductor Components Industries, LLC (onsemi) Political Action Committee (PAC)
Texans for a Better Texas PAC (Super PAC)
WOMEN FOR RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT PAC (Super PAC)
None.
Invariant LLC: Guardant Health, Inc.
Keller Partners & Company: Concordia University
Keller Partners & Company: Hocking Valley Community Hospital
Mehlman Consulting, Inc.: National Electrical Manufacturers Association
Mehlman Consulting, Inc.: Netflix, Inc.
Mehlman Consulting, Inc.: Red Hat Inc
Raffaniello & Associates: Partnership For Conservation
The Nickles Group, LLC: Acist Medical Systems
Ulman Public Policy & Federal Relations: Flex Association
