Three of President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet-level picks, former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, Trump 2024 co-campaign manager Susie Wiles, and former Congressman Sean Duffy, have previously been lobbyists
BUSINESS INSIDER
President-elect Donald Trump is set to rely on a trio of former lobbyists to help implement his agenda to shake up Washington.
Incoming White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, attorney general nominee Pam Bondi, and Transportation secretary nominee Sean Duffy have all been registered lobbyists. According to disclosure filings, Bondi and Wiles did lobbying work as recently as this year, with Duffy working as a lobbyist into 2023.
Their combined clients range from blue chip companies — including Amazon, GM, and Uber — to insurance giants like MetLife and Fidelity National Financial. Wiles and Bondi were also separately registered to lobby for foreign interests, which included one of Nigeria’s largest political parties and the Qatarian embassy.
Wiles and Bondi have both once worked for Ballard Partners, once a regional firm in Florida that exploded in popularity due to its ties to Trump world. Earlier this summer, the firm opened an office in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
“Part of why you hired Ballard Partners over the last few years is knowing that if Trump is president, the people you are working with stand at having a pretty good chance at having influence in a Trump administration,” Jeff Hauser, executive director of the Revolving Door Project, a public interest group, told Business Insider.
Brian Ballard, a major Republican fundraiser and founder of the firm, did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s request for comment.
