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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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The Democracy for All Project

The Democracy for All Project

American democracy faces growing polarization and extremism, disinformation is sowing chaos and distrust of election results, and public discourse has become increasingly toxic. According to most rankings, America is no longer considered a full democracy. Many experts now believe American democracy is becoming more autocratic than democratic. What does the American public think of these developments? As Keith Melville and I have noted, existing research has little to say about the deeper causes of these trends and how they are experienced across partisan and cultural divides. The Democracy for All Project, a new partnership of the Kettering Foundation and Gallup Inc., is an annual survey and research initiative designed to address that gap by gaining a comprehensive understanding of how citizens are experiencing democracy and identifying opportunities to achieve a democracy that works for everyone.

A Nuanced Exploration of Democracy and Its Challenges

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America Is Not a Place, It’s an Epic Road Trip
empty curved road
Photo by Holden Baxter on Unsplash

America Is Not a Place, It’s an Epic Road Trip

Despite its size, Afghanistan has only a single highway running through it. It’s called National Highway 1, or Ring Road, and I spent a little time on it myself years ago. It has no major intersections, not really. Just 1,400 miles of dusty road that cuts through mountains and across minefields to connect small towns and ancient cities.

Over many decades, America helped build and rebuild Ring Road to support free trade and free movement throughout the country.

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A “Bad Time” To Be Latino in America

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AI generated

A “Bad Time” To Be Latino in America

A new Pew Research Center survey reveals that most Latinos in the United States disapprove of President Donald Trump’s handling of immigration and the economy during his second term, underscoring growing pessimism within one of the nation’s fastest-growing demographic groups. Conducted in October, the survey highlights widespread concerns about deportation efforts, financial insecurity, and the broader impact of Trump’s policies on Hispanic communities.

Key Findings from the Pew Survey
  • 65% disapprove of Trump’s immigration policies, citing heightened deportation efforts and increased immigration enforcement in local communities.
  • About four-in-five Latinos say Trump’s policies harm Hispanics, a higher share than during his first term.
  • 61% of Latinos believe Trump’s economic policies have worsened conditions, with nearly half reporting struggles to pay for food, housing, or medical expenses in the past year.
  • 68% feel their overall situation has declined in the past year, marking one of the bleakest assessments in nearly two decades of Pew surveys.

Immigration Enforcement and Fear of Deportation

The study found that about half of Latinos worry they or someone close to them might be deported, reflecting heightened anxiety amid intensified immigration raids and arrests. Many respondents reported that enforcement actions had occurred in their local areas within the past six months. This fear has contributed to a sense of vulnerability, particularly among mixed-status families where U.S. citizens live alongside undocumented relatives.

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