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K Street profiting from the Trump revolving door

Lobbying firms linked to the Trump administration have made plenty of rain this year.

This seems no more true than with the firm created by Trump campaign fundraiser Brian Ballard after the 2016 election. Ballard Partners reported $4.2 million in revenue between January and March from a roster of clients recently expanded to include General Motors and Boeing and also featuring GEO Group, a private prison contractor hoping to benefit from an illegal immigration crackdown at the southern border.


The firm brought in $10 million in its first year and $18 million last year thanks to several "revolving door" moves. Faces at the firm now include Raj Shah, previously White House deputy press secretary, and Pam Bondi, a former Florida attorney general and Trump transition team member.

A Center for Responsive Politics survey of how K Street has been absorbing former Trump administration officials also found:

  • Turnberry Solutions employs former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and Jason Osborne, who was a senior Trump campaign advisor.
  • Avenue Strategies has original campaign manager Corey Lewandowski and was co-founded by senior campaign advisor Barry Bennett.
  • Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck's D.C. office is run by Marc Lampkin, a major 2016 campaign fundraiser.
  • Holland & Knight has Scott Mason, who ran congressional relations for the campaign, and Lauren Maddox, a member of the Trump transition team.

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Historically, states like New Jersey show what’s possible when legal advocacy and grassroots organizing come together. In 1975, the New Jersey Supreme Court’s Mount Laurel ruling established that every municipality in the state has a constitutional obligation to provide its fair share of affordable housing. This landmark legal ruling reshaped housing policy and set a national precedent. Today, organizations like Fair Share Housing Center continue to defend and expand this right, ensuring that local governments are prohibited from using zoning laws to exclude working-class families or people of color.

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