Kate Ackley is a lobbying reporter and editor for Roll Call. For more than a decade, she has covered the K Street industry and the relationship between Congress and those seeking to influence it. She is an expert on the lobbying job market, the revolving door between Capitol Hill and the private sector, the culture of K Street and on Washington, D.C.’s business community including its lobbying associations, lobbying firms, unions and corporate offices.
Before joining Roll Call in January 2005, Ackley was news editor at Influence and Legal Times. She has held reporting internships with the Wall Street Journal, Reader’s Digest magazine and the Fort Collins Coloradoan.
A Denver native, Ackley graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder.
She has appeared on CSPAN, including in a documentary about a Congressional Delegation trip in 2008 to Colombia, and on XM Satellite Radio and various other programs around the country.
John Engler, president of the CEO lobby Business Roundtable, on Thursday offered his group’s 2013 policy priorities, which he said could boost the economy. The roundtable will marshal its lobbying and communications resources to push its agenda, which includes a lower corporate tax rate, comprehensive immigration legislation and changes to entitlement programs, among other matters.
The House Small Business Committee wants to make it easier for little companies that may lack Washington savvy — and pricey lobbyists — to vent their opinions on federal regulations that will affect them.
Melanie Sloan, the head of a government watchdog group, said Thursday she believes federal investigators are probing Sen. Robert Menendez’s involvement in an alleged travel and prostitution scandal, but predicted that the New Jersey Democrat would not be subjected to internal Senate discipline.
Edwina Rogers, the ex-wife of BGR lobbyist Ed Rogers, has filed a lawsuit against the couple’s former accountant, alleging breach of contract, professional negligence and infliction of emotional distress, according to recently filed court documents.
In the wake of an FBI raid on the office of a friend and political donor, Sen. Robert Menendez aggressively countered news reports Wednesday linking him to an alleged travel and prostitution scandal. And it is not yet clear whether the New Jersey Democrat is a target of any investigations by the Justice Department or the Senate Ethics Committee.
McBee Strategic Consulting has added four new executive vice presidents to its team: Ted Anderson, a former Pentagon official; Bruce Holmes, a retired Navy SEAL; Chelsea Henderson, an ex-policy adviser to former Sen. John Warner, R-Va.; and Dawn Levy O’Donnell, a former Democratic aide on the Senate Finance Committee.
In a week that began with a bipartisan collection of senators unveiling a blueprint for a comprehensive bill and continues Tuesday with an address by President Barack Obama, advocates for a sweeping update of immigration laws say they will take advantage of elected officials’ posturing to press for an outcome this year.
The K Street-focused Bryce Harlow Foundation announced five new board members Monday: Paul Brathwaite, principal at the Podesta Group; Phil Brady, senior vice president of government affairs for Phillips 66; Peter Davidson, senior vice president for federal affairs at Verizon Communications Inc.; Craig Purser, president and CEO of the National Beer Wholesalers Association; and Angela Riemer, senior director of federal government relations at Pfizer Inc..
The Obama administration may not be outwardly keen on lobbyists, but plenty of K Streeters showed up to fete the start of the president’s second term at the Ford Motor Co. inaugural gala on Monday.
Former Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., is joining the public affairs firm Agenda, the outfit announced Tuesday. The firm is also bringing on Ed Schafer, a former secretary of Agriculture and North Dakota governor. Both will be senior advisers.
Updated: Jan. 23, 8:40 a.m. | It may have been a do-little Congress, but lobbyists of all stripes made their presence felt on Capitol Hill this past year.
When President Barack Obama took office, he immediately installed unprecedented revolving-door restrictions that banned federal lobbyists from serving in his administration without a waiver. And in his rhetoric, he made no secret of his disdain for the influence industry.
Artemis Strategies has added Joe Harris Jr., counsel to retired Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, I-Conn., as a vice president. Harris will work with clients to advance their policy priorities before Congress and the executive branch as well as with governors, the firm said in a statement.
The influential seniors’ lobby AARP issued a warning Tuesday for members of Congress and Obama administration officials looking to narrow the deficit: Don’t do it with cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
When the congressional agenda includes cuts to entitlements and defense programs, a fight over the debt ceiling and potential tax changes that could affect virtually every sector of the economy, you can bet on one thing: Lobbyists will be very busy this year.
When former Rep. Steve Bartlett, R-Texas, stepped down last year from the Financial Services Roundtable, he said he wasn’t retiring. He announced Monday that he’s joining the crisis communications firm Levick as a strategic policy adviser.
The Fix the Debt campaign announced Thursday that 40 more corporate CEOs and business leaders had joined its cause. To some congressional denizens, that could translate into 40 more people with whom they are miffed.
The nation’s economy will rebound faster if Congress and the Obama administration avoid future fiscal crises and work instead to advance more robust energy, trade and regulatory policies, U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Thomas Donohue said Thursday.
Allison Nyholm, most recently a policy adviser at the American Petroleum Institute, has joined the lobby shop TCH Group as a partner, the firm announced Wednesday.
Frank Fahrenkopf, president and CEO of the American Gaming Association, announced Monday that he is stepping down June 30.
Even before President Barack Obama officially nominated former Sen. Chuck Hagel to head the Pentagon, Jewish and pro-Israel lobbying organizations were staking out positions for and against the Nebraska Republican.
Former Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America, has given Diane Strahan the role of chief operating officer, the group announced Friday.
The lobby group for the U.S. airline industry has added a former Federal Aviation Administration policy wonk: Dan Elwell is deplaning at Airlines for America as senior vice president of safety, security and operations. He will report to A4A’s chief, Nicholas Calio.
The all-Republican lobby shop Clark Lytle Geduldig & Cranford, which has grown dramatically in recent years, is adding a new partner to kick off the new year. Mike Nielsen, who spent 16 years working on banking and financial services issues as a Senate aide, is joining from the Bennett Group, the firm of former Sen. Robert F. Bennett, R-Utah.
A week after the Connecticut school massacre, the National Rifle Association called on Congress to provide funding for armed police in all of the nation’s schools.
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