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With Megan R. Wilson and Daniel Lippman <\/i><\/p>\n
FIRST IN PI \u2014 THEGROUP ADDS A GOP PARTNER: <\/b>Ahead of potential fights to come in the new, narrowly divided Congress on everything from the debt ceiling and funding the government to farm policy, two of the latest Hill vets to head downtown have been key players involved in some of the last Congress\u2019 marquee legislative achievements.<\/p>\n
\u2014 One of them is Pam Thiessen,<\/b> who left the Hill after nearly three decades to join theGROUP D.C.<\/b> as its first Republican partner. Thiessen most recently served as GOP staff director on the Senate Homeland Security Committee, and spent roughly half of her time on the Hill working for former Ohio Sen. Rob Portman<\/b> \u2014 a chief architect of the blockbuster infrastructure package and last year\u2019s Electoral Count Act reforms.<\/p>\n
\u2014 In an interview, Thiessen pointed to the legislation passed last session as proof that bipartisan breakthroughs can happen on almost any issue. \u201cI think the bipartisan infrastructure package, in which I was the lead negotiator \u2026 just really epitomized how something big can happen,\u201d she told PI.<\/p>\n
\u2014 In the process, she\u2019ll also boost theGROUP\u2019s bipartisan bonafides. Firm lobbyists\u2019 close ties to top Democrats across Washington fueled a major boom in business over the past couple of years, but the firm only had one other Republican lobbyist on staff after Dwayne Bolton<\/b> decamped for Mindset<\/a> in October.<\/p>\n \u2014 \u201cTheGROUP is serious about building a bipartisan firm, and I\u2019m here to do just that,\u201d Thiessen said. \u201cHaving worked for the past 12 years for Rob Portman in the middle of every single major bipartisan deal that\u2019s moved forward, to me, it seemed like the perfect place.\u201d<\/p>\n ALPINE GROUP NABS HOYER FLOOR DIRECTOR: Alpine Group<\/b>, meanwhile, has scooped up a key player in the Democrats\u2019 House floor operation for the past five years. Deborah Rowe<\/b>, a longtime aide to former House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer<\/b><\/a>, has joined the firm as a policy director.<\/p>\n \u2014 Rowe worked for Hoyer for nearly a decade, serving as the Maryland Democrat\u2019s senior floor adviser before he stepped down from leadership last year, and previously serving as part of Hoyer\u2019s whip operation when he was minority whip. Rowe, who told PI she doesn\u2019t plan on registering to lobby, will advise clients on how to \u201cnavigate through all the ins and outs\u201d of the appropriations process.<\/p>\n \u2014 As one of Hoyer\u2019s top floor advisers, Rowe helped shepherd every piece of legislation that made it through the chamber during that time, including the coronavirus relief bills and the Democratic American Rescue Plan, the bipartisan infrastructure and gun bills, and last year\u2019s Inflation Reduction Act.<\/p>\n \u2014 \u201cDeborah was vital to securing each of these groundbreaking laws,\u201d Hoyer said in a statement provided by the firm, pointing in addition to her role in passing more than 450 suspension bills, which require approval from two-thirds of the chamber.<\/p>\n \u2014 Hoyer also praised Rowe\u2019s \u201cinvaluable understanding of the House\u2019s institutional nuances,\u201d which Alpine Group CEO Les Spivey <\/b>predicted in a statement \u201cwill be incredibly consequential in an era of divided government, when any legislative victories or vehicles will need to be carefully built and balanced.\u201d<\/p>\n Welcome to Pi Day PI.<\/b> Send K Street gossip, bonus points if it\u2019s pi related: [email\u00a0protected]<\/span><\/a>. And be sure to follow me on Twitter: @caitlinoprysko<\/a>.<\/p>\n