DOZENS of High-Profile Political Appointees Become Big Pharma Reps

Article by The National Pulse

Republicans and Democrats alike are now working for the Big Pharma lobby.

Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent vaccine rollout, pharmaceutical giants including Pfizer and Moderna have substantially increased their lobbying efforts, a National Pulse investigation has revealed.

The lobbying apparatuses at both vaccine-reliant companies – in terms of the number of lobbyists hired and the overall budget deployed to influence government officials – have seen dramatic increases since 2019.

The news comes one day after hidden camera footage revealed a Pfizer scientist admitting: “Basically, our organization is run on COVID money now.”

Democrat Operatives Turn Vax Lobbyists.

Many of the new Big Pharma hires have come from consulting firms with deep and historical links to the current White House, and President Joe Biden himself.

In October alone Pfizer tapped Sudafi Henry, Joe Biden’s former legislative affairs director from his days as Vice President.

Another recent hire is Kwabena Nsiah, a former staffer for Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra and top aide to director of the White House Office of Public Engagement.

Nsiah also worked in Congress for over eight years, most recently as Policy Director for the Congressional Black Caucus and on the Joint Economic Committee as a Senior Policy Advisor.

RINOs Turn Vax Lobbyists, Too.

Among Pfizer’s robust lobbying team are alumni of Republican presidential administrations and Congressional offices.

Justin McCarthy, who served under George W. Bush as a Special Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs, and Ben Howard, who served as a Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Legislative Affairs under Donald Trump, both lobby for the pharmaceutical giant.

David Schiappa, a longtime Republican staff member of the Senate holding the role of Secretary for Leader Mitch McConnell, is also lobbying for Pfizer.

Pfizer, which recently received approval for a third booster dose of its COVID-19 vaccine, has substantially increased its lobbying budget. In 2019, the company spent $11,000,000 on lobbying efforts before increasing the total to $13,150,000 – the highest total since 2010.

In 2019, the company retained 77 lobbyists before the total grew to a team of 102 lobbyists in 2020. So far in 2021, Pfizer has declared 92 lobbyists.

While Moderna retained just one lobbyist throughout all of 2019 and added one lobbyist the following year, in 2021, the company has already hired an additional twelve lobbyists, representing a 600 percent increase in the company’s total lobbying force.

In 2019, Moderna spent $40,000 on lobbying and $280,000 in 2020, and just halfway into 2021, the company has already spent $290,000.

The real scandal, however, is represented in the sheer number of political operatives who have recently gone on to work for Big Pharma, from both Democrat and Republican offices.

The National Pulse has assembled a list of those declared by Pfizer and Moderna alone, below. The list includes their previous jobs or affiliations. Of the 83 listed below, many come from high level backgrounds such as the White House, presidential candidates, the Speaker of the House’s office, and a number of congressional offices.

The swamp, revealed:

Pfizer.

1. Justin McCarthy, Special Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs under President George W. Bush
2. Brian Arthur Pomper, Chief International Trade Counsel to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus
3. Bill Morley, General Counsel to Senator Arlen Specter
4. Remy Brim, Senior Health Policy Advisor to Senator Elizabeth Warren
5. Mark Mioduski, Democratic Clerk for the Committee on Appropriations in the U.S. House of Representatives
6. Brian Griffin, Senior Leadership Advisor and Floor Policy Director for Democratic Policy Committee Chairman Senator Byron Dorgan
7. Ben Howard, Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Legislative Affairs under President Donald Trump
8. Kate Keating, Chief of Staff to Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus Congressman Joseph Crowley
9. David Schiappa, Secretary to Senate Republican Leaders
10. Lavita Legrys, Director at the Office of Legislative Affairs in the Department of Homeland Security under President Barack Obama
11. Mike Mckay, Senior Policy Advisor to Congressman Gregory Meeks
12. Cristina Antelo, Legal Fellow with the Senate Democratic Steering Committee
13. Tom Davis, former Congressman
14. Michael Werner, Policy Advisor to Senate Democrats Policy Committee
15. Daniel Elling, Staff Director for the House Committee on Ways and Means
16. Cookab Hashemi, Chief of Staff to Representative Raul Ruiz and Representative Jackie Speier
17. Robert Holifield, Staff Director of the Senate Agriculture Committee
18. Hannah Smith, Legislative Correspondent to Senator Blanche Lincoln
19. Blanche Lincoln, Former Senator and Congresswoman
20. Colin Roskey, Deputy Assistant Secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services under President Trump
21. Thomas Scully, Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services under President Bush.
22. Brian Diffell, Legislative Director to Senator Roy Blunt
23. Kelli Briggs, Chief of Staff to Representative Pat Tiberi
24. Anne Wilson, Legislative Director to Representative Anna G. Eshoo
25. Peter Wallace, Legislative Correspondent to Representative Ric Keller
26. Katharine Hayes, Legislative Correspondent to Representative Mark Schauer
27. Akshai Datta, Senior Legislative Assistant to Representative Ami Bera
28. Darrel Thompson, Deputy Chief of Staff for Intergovernmental and External Affairs to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
29. Shanti Ochs Stanton, Floor Assistant to the Democratic Leaders Office
30. Natalie Farr, Chief of Staff to Senator Cory Gardner
31. Steven Elmendorf, Chief of Staff to House Democratic Leader Richard Gephardt
32. Steven Irizarry, Senior Counsel for Senate Special Committee on Aging
33. Stephen Northrup, Health Policy Advisor to Senator Michael Enzi
34. Jennifer Swenson, Deputy Legislative Director to Senator Pat Roberts
35. Catherine Robinson, Law Clerk on the Committee on Ways and Means
36. Emily Mueller, Deputy Legislative Director to Senator Pat Roberts
37. Stephen Claeys, Trade Counsel on the Committee on Ways and Means
38. Paula Burg, Director and Senior Advisor for Health and Entitlements on the Senate Budget Committee
39. Elissa Alben, Senior Counsel for International Trade and Competitiveness on the Senate Committee on Finance
40. Karissa Willhite, Deputy Chief of Staff to Senator Robert Menendez
41. Gordon Taylor, Chief of Staff to Representative Chris John
42. Tucker Shumack, Tax and Finance Counsel to Senator Olympia Snowe
43. Todd Novascone, Chief of Staff to Senator Jerry Moran
44. Jerome Murray, Chief of Staff to Representative Stacey Plaskett
45. Moses Mercado, Deputy Chief of Staff to Representative Richard Gephardt
46. Tim McGivern, Chief of Staff to Senator Jim Brownback
47. Chris Giblin, Chief of Staff to Representative John Carter
48. Tony Bullock, Chief of Staff to Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan
49. Dee Buchanan, Chief of Staff to House Republican Conference
50. Dean Aguillen, Advisor to Speaker Nancy Pelosi
51. Eden Shiferaw, Representative Marcia Fudge
52. Jane Loewenson, Senior Health Policy Advisor to Democratic Leader Tom Daschle
53. Andrea LaRue, Counsel to Democratic Leader Tom Daschle
54. Brady King, Chief of Staff to Congresswoman Kendra S. Horn
55. Joshua Fay Hurvitz, Legislative Director to Representative Anthony D. Weiner
56. Lisa German Foster, Senior Policy Advisor to Senator Jack Reed
57. Irene Bueno, Special Assistant to President Bill Clinton in the Domestic Policy Council and Chief of Staff’s Office
58. Ashley Gunn,  Senior Director of Cabinet Affairs to President Trump
59. Monica Popp, Chief of Staff to Senate Republican Whip John Cornyn
60. Hazen Marshall, Policy Director to Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell
61. Christopher Wilcox, Staff Assistant to Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan
62. Marti Thomas, Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs under President Clinton
63. Karina Lynch, Legislative Director to Representative Scott McInnis
64. Cheryl Jager, Senior Health Policy Advisor for House Republican Leadership
65. Matthew Hoekstra, Legislative Director for Senator Ben Lujan
66. Susan Hirschmann, Chief of Staff to Representative Van Hilleary
67. Christopher Hatcher, Legislative Director to Representative Scott McInnis
68. Ann Marie Buerkle, Congresswoman
69. Shimon Stein, Senior Advisor to House Majority Leader/Republican Whip
70. Kristi Remington, Deputy Assistant Attorney General at the Department of Justice under President Obama
71. Malloy McDaniel, Policy Advisor to Senator Mitch McConnell
72. Craig Kalkut, Chief Counsel of Senate Antitrust Subcommittee
73. Ashley Davis, Special Assistant to Director of Homeland Security Tom Ridge under President Bush
74. Greg Nickerson, Tax Counsel to Representative Bill Thomas

Moderna.

1. Darren Willcox, Assistant to Speaker Dennis Hastert for Health Policy
2. Erin Strawn, Legislative Associate to Representative Joe Cunningham
3. Valerie Henry, Senior Policy Advisor to Congressman Greg Walden
4. James Derderian, Chief of Staff to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce
5. Carmencita Whonder, Advisor on the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee to Senator Chuck Schumer
6. Marc Lampkin, General Counsel for the House Republican Conference
7. Araceli Gutierrez, Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Graduate Fellow
8. Emily Felder, Counsel to the House Energy and Commerce Committee
9. Nadeam Elshami, Chief of Staff to Representative Nancy Pelosi

Article by Natalie Winters and Raheem Kassam

Raheem Kassam is the Editor in Chief of the National Pulse. Natalie Winters is a Senior Writing Fellow.