Category: Insights

Retired Four-Star U.S. Army General Stanley McChrystal spent over thirty years serving his country in the armed forces—from West Point to Commander International Security Assistance Services Forces – Afghanistan. In this episode of HPS Insights, General McChrystal and coauthor Anna Butrico join HPS Partners Tony Fratto and Stacy Kerr for a conversation on risk in today’s dynamic landscape and their book, “Risk: A User’s Guide.” The authors discuss how individuals and organizations often fail to appropriately identify and mitigate risk. Leveraging his decades-long military service, General McChrystal offers insights into his battle-tested system for effectively detecting and responding to risk. 

On the podcast, General McChrystal and Butrico offer lessons for leaders at all levels, urging them to take responsibility for their organizations’ “risk immune systems,” even when that means breaking from established practices and old perspectives. “If the people before you or your peers are all doing it a certain way, there’s a safety in doing what they do—even if you fail.”

You can listen to the full conversation here. You can also learn more about the book here. Subscribe to the HPS Podcast Channel on your favorite podcast service for more insights and our weekly Macrocast.

Welcome back to Capitol Chatter: A Quarterly Analysis Of Congressional Tweets, where we help you keep track of what Congress is tweeting. This analysis covers both trends from Q4 2021 and insights from the full year.

In 2021, Congressional Twitter accounts sent out a total of 549,687 tweets. Democrats accounted for 61.2% of that total, while Republicans sent the remaining 38.8%. Tweet activity declined over the year: members of Congress sent 115,657 tweets in Q4, an 11% decline from Q3. 

Topics: What Were Members Talking About?

After three quarters of growth, infrastructure emerged as the most discussed topic on congressional Twitter in Q4: members’ tweets about infrastructure jumped almost 50% from Q3 to Q4 as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act was signed in November. Conversely, the number of tweets mentioning foreign affairs and defense fell 55%, returning to levels in line with tweet volume prior to the U.S.’ withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The steady growth in tweets about infrastructure and the economy was driven largely by Democrats, who used terms like “bipartisan,” “infrastructure,” “jobs,” and the hashtag “BuildBackBetter” to push the President’s agenda. Republicans were more likely to tweet about Biden directly, and focused on negative issues like inflation: Republicans mentioned “inflation” nearly nine times as often as Democrats in Q4.

Mentions of “inflation” illustrate how congressional Twitter can be a barometer of both parties’ political and communications strategies. While consumer interest in inflation has been high all year, as data from Google Trends show, Republicans increased their discussion of the topic to try to tie rising prices to President Biden’s agenda in May, while Democrats shifted gears in December, pointing to the need to fight inflation as a reason to pass Build Back Better.

Mentions of COVID-19 vaccines showed a similarly partisan split. Democrats’ tweets about COVID-19 vaccines generally tracked Google search volume: volume slowed over the year after peaking around expanded vaccine eligibility in April. Republicans mentioned vaccines far less frequently for most of the year, until President Biden announced a sweeping vaccine mandate in November. Since then, Republican mentions of vaccines have matched or even outpaced those by Democrats.

Member Leaderboards: Who Was Tweeted About—And Tweeted—Most?

President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were mentioned most in members’ tweets: their combined weekly mentions ranged from one to 40 times more than combined mentions of Congressional leadership (Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)). 

Speaker Pelosi consistently led the other three leaders in mentions by other lawmakers. Among lawmakers, regulators, and government officials, her handle was mentioned the fourth most on congressional Twitter in 2021, trailing only @potus, @housedemocrats, and @joebiden.

Meanwhile, Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) was crowned 2021’s most prolific tweeter in Congress. His account sent out a total of 6,507 tweets, over 1,000 more than any other member’s account. However, Sen. Cornyn’s tweet volume has steadily declined, dropping 44% from Q1 to Q4. Q4 was the only quarter in which Cornyn was not the top tweeter: that spot went to Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.).

Tennessee Republican Senators Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty join Sen. Cornyn as the only senators on the full-year leaderboard, which is largely composed of Democratic House members. 

Methodology

HPS conducted text analysis on all tweets and retweets from handles included in C-SPAN’s “members of Congress” Twitter list that were posted between January 1, 2021, and December 31, 2021. In total, we searched for more than 150 keywords in each of the 549,687 tweets (including retweets) to determine which topics were discussed in each. In this analysis, independent Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Angus King (I-Maine), who caucus with the Democratic Party, were treated as Democrats. 

To provide context for our full-year analysis, HPS obtained Google Trends data on select relevant topics featured in Axios’ 2021 news cycles analysis. The 0 to 100 weekly Google Trends index measures a topic’s proportion to all search topics in the U.S. 

COVID cases data used are from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s COVID Data Tracker; they were normalized to the same 0 to 100 scale as the Google Trends data.

Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman is an award-winning researcher and writer and the co-founder of the Sadie Collective. In this book recommendation episode of HPS Insights, Tony interviews Anna about her new book, “The Black Agenda.” The two chat about the book, a collection of essays by Black experts on a variety of public policy topics, and discuss why it is so important to include Black voices in public policy debates. 

In the current societal environment where race, diversity, and inclusion have come to the forefront of public discourse, Anna saw an opportunity to create a book that elevates the work and commentary of Black experts on public policy. As Anna and Tony explore a wide range of issues the book covers, the two note that each section is full of important and often widely unknown data, as well as thought-provoking and timely policy prescriptions.

In addition to delving into some of the issue-specific essays, Anna and Tony also discuss the important role that institutions more broadly play in increasing the inclusion of Black voices and talent, such as by hiring from Historically Black Colleges and Universities. There is no shortage of Black folks looking to take opportunities, Anna notes, and organizations that make an effort to realize that will be rewarded with a deeper, better workforce that everyone benefits from.

You can listen to the full conversation here. You can also learn more about Anna and “The Black Agenda” here and follow Anna on Twitter @itsafronomics. Subscribe to the HPS Podcast Channel on your favorite podcast service for more HPS Insights episodes and our weekly Macrocast.

WASHINGTON, D.C. –

Today, Hamilton Place Strategies (HPS) announced Alaina Monismith, Maura McDonough, and Rustin Finkler will be joining the firm as directors and Stephanie Dodge Bigley, previously a director at HPS, will be returning to the firm as a senior director.

“At an exciting time of growth for the firm, it is great to welcome Alaina, Maura, and Rustin to HPS,” said HPS Partner Matt McDonald. “They each bring a depth of experience which will benefit both our clients and internal teams. We are also excited for Stephanie to be back at HPS. She is a great colleague and will be an asset to the team as she leads the firm’s expanding portfolio of legal work.”

Stephanie Dodge Bigley returns to HPS from Davis & Santos where she practiced complex commercial litigation and white-collar defense. Stephanie specializes in legal strategies, advising clients on how to use public affairs to advance their legal position and minimize reputational risk. Stephanie previously served as a law clerk for the Honorable David A. Ezra, Senior U.S. District Judge for the Western District of Texas. Before going to law school, Stephanie worked as an associate and a director at HPS. Stephanie is bilingual in English and Spanish.

Prior to joining HPS, Alaina Monismith served as Senior Manager of Communications & Media Relations at the Public Affairs Council. Previously, Alaina worked in communications at the Alliance of Community Health Plans and as an editor of a trade publication in the D.C. metro area.

Rustin Finkler comes to HPS from Village Capital where he managed strategic communications for a non-profit with an affiliated venture fund. Rustin holds a Master’s in Public Policy from Georgetown University.

Maura McDonough was previously an account executive at Edelman, where she managed public awareness campaigns in the healthcare, workforce development, and environmental sustainability spaces. Maura previously worked in the office of Congressman Stephen Lynch (D-MA). 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Hamilton Place Strategies (HPS) announced Michael Short will be joining the firm’s growing team as a managing director. Melissa Manson and Max Mallory have also been promoted to managing director.  

“We are very excited to welcome Michael to HPS,” said Matt McDonald, a partner at HPS. “His considerable strategic communications experience and policy issue knowledge will be an invaluable asset to the firm.”

Prior to joining HPS, Short served as the Chief Communications Officer and Director of the Office of Public Affairs at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission under two presidential administrations of both political parties. From 2017 to 2019, he was head of media relations at the National Association of Manufacturers, the nation’s largest industrial trade association. Earlier in his career, Short served in key communications roles at the White House, Republican National Committee, and the U.S. House of Representatives. 

In addition, HPS announced several promotions today, which include: 

– Melissa Manson to Managing Director

– Max Mallory to Creative Managing Director

– Claire Bischoff to Senior Director

– Scott Haber-Katris to Senior Director

– Ryan Harrison to Associate Creative Director

– Tala Anchassi to Creative Director

– Oliver Edelmann to Director

– Claire Radler to Director

– Jolene Rencher to IT Manager

“We are delighted to announce year-end promotions for a number of our talented HPS team members,” said Partner Stuart Siciliano. “Our clients will benefit even further from their leadership and expertise, and I look forward to continuing to work with them as they keep growing professionally and contribute to the firm’s strong culture.”

Now a managing director, Melissa Manson has grown alongside the firm over the last decade, supporting corporate clients across a range of issues, including M&A, technology, transportation, and financial services. In her new role, she will serve as lead strategist on teams and continue to play an integral role in coaching and training at the firm.

Max Mallory will continue to lead an experienced and growing HPS Creative team as managing director, blending policy, design, and technological expertise to help clients increase the accessibility, reach, and emotional resonance of their work. Having previously served as a director at HPS, Mallory brings a depth and breadth of policy expertise to his leadership of HPS Creative.

Since joining the firm as an associate in 2016, Claire Bischoff has driven strategic and crisis communications campaigns and brand development efforts for many clients, including those in the highly regulated financial, technology, and M&A arenas. Her extensive digital knowledge is an asset to the firm and to its clients. 

As senior director, Scott Haber-Katris, who started his career at HPS and returned this past year, will continue to leverage his deep policy expertise to support a wide range of clients, including leading technology and financial services companies and trade associations. The leadership and mentorship he displays on his teams will help other team members grow in his footsteps. 

Ryan Harrison, who also joined the HPS team this past year, has immediately become an invaluable member of the Creative team. From brand identity to digital storytelling, Harrison drives strategic, imaginative, compelling, and ultimately effective work for our clients. 

Having joined HPS as associates in 2019, Tala Anchassi will become HPS Creative’s newest director, while Oliver Edelmann and Claire Radler will both become HPS directors, working collaboratively with HPS teams and clients to craft data-driven, strategic messages, and campaigns to further client objectives across industries. 

Jolene Rencher is critical to the HPS operations team and as IT manager, will now serve as the primary internal contact for office-wide information technology support while assisting in the firm’s overall operations.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Hamilton Place Strategies (HPS) announced that Andrea Christianson, Bryan DeAngelis, and Christina Pearson have been named partners at the firm. Andrea, Bryan, and Christina have each served as managing directors at HPS, bringing significant public affairs and strategic communications expertise to the firm.

These promotions are the latest addition to a year of growth for Hamilton Place Strategies. In June, Falfurrias Capital Partners acquired a majority stake in HPS, allowing HPS to partner with Ballast Research, a firm that provides clients direct feedback from policymakers. In July, stakeholder intelligence platform alva became a partner as well. HPS will continue to leverage the capabilities of its organizational partnerships and the expertise of its personnel to create industry-leading analytical public affairs campaigns as it welcomes its new partners.

“I’m thrilled to share that Andrea, Bryan, and Christina have been named partners at HPS. They have each demonstrated exceptional leadership at HPS and have invested significantly in the growth and development of our firm and colleagues,” said HPS Co-founder and Partner Tony Fratto. “Andrea, Bryan, and Christina bring a depth of experience working through complex and high-stakes communications challenges with a variety of clients. We look forward to the many contributions these highly valued team members will make to HPS as partners.”

Andrea joined HPS in 2013, bringing extensive communications and rapid response experience from campaigns and government. As a managing director at HPS, Andrea has led multiple issue campaigns as well as policy research and analysis to inform client strategy and public affairs efforts on technology, finance, trade, and other economic policy issues. She also manages HPS’ media monitoring arm, Flag Media Analytics.

Bryan joined HPS as a managing director in 2019 after successful stints on Capitol Hill and as a public affairs consultant in Washington, D.C. He has been a trusted advisor to members of Congress and Democratic candidates throughout his career, and previously served as communications director and chief spokesperson for Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT). Bryan provides strategic counsel to HPS’ clients on corporate reputation, issue management, stakeholder persuasion, and public policy. He works with clients in the financial services, energy and climate, and tech industries, and is co-leading the firm’s increasing work in the cryptocurrency space.

Christina is recognized as the leader behind successful public affairs campaigns and reputational positioning for multiple global brands, particularly in the areas of health care, technology, and ESG. Before joining HPS in 2019, Christina was Assistant Secretary of Public Affairs for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Christina also helped Microsoft reshape its image with policymakers during her tenure on their government affairs senior leadership team. At HPS, she’s worked with clients in the health care, technology, transportation, retail, and financial sectors to advocate on issues, elevate brand awareness, and build support among key stakeholders to achieve business and policy goals.

Former Senator Ben Nelson spent two terms in the “world’s great deliberative body” dealing directly with some of the most consequential legislation and political issues of our time, including the Affordable Care Act, the Iraq War, and the 2008 financial crisis. In this episode of HPS Insights, he discusses his new book, “Death of the Senate,” with Managing Director Bryan DeAngelis.  Senator Nelson talks about what can be done to overcome the current gridlock in the Senate, his unique insights on how the filibuster should be strengthened, and why members of Congress need to spend more time in Washington—not less. Throughout the podcast, Senator Nelson emphasizes that the Senate needs to return to its civil, bipartisan roots through cross-party luncheons, congressional delegations, and other activities that build up camaraderie and friendship. Senator Nelson also touches on his tenure in government, highlighting dinners with Senator McCain, his role in the “Gang of 14,” and his transition from Governor to Senator. 

You can listen to the full conversation here. You can also learn more about Senator Nelson’s book here. Subscribe to the HPS Podcast Channel on your favorite podcast service for more insights and our weekly Macrocast.

Welcome back to Capitol Chatter: A Quarterly Analysis Of Congressional Tweets, where we help you keep track of what Congress is tweeting.

In the third quarter of 2021, congressional Twitter accounts sent out 130,293 tweets—a 10% decrease from the second quarter and a 17% drop from the first quarter. Members of Congress from both parties tweeted the most about President Biden’s agenda and the U.S.’ withdrawal from Afghanistan but diverged on their emphasis within each topic. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) remained the most prolific tweeter, even though he tweeted 38% less in Q3 than he did in Q1. Read on for other findings.

The most notable difference between Q3 and the previous two quarters is the nearly 80% increase in the number of times members of Congress mentioned terms related to foreign affairs and defense. Driving the spike is the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, which accounted for 9.6% of all tweets congressional Twitter accounts sent in Q3. The economy, however, remained the most-discussed topic in the third quarter. Debates over President Biden’s agenda spilled over from the Hill into cyberspace, causing continued increases in mentions of the economy and infrastructure. 

Given the overall lower volume of tweets, Q3 saw slight, expected drops in many categories including commemorative events, education, immigration, and agriculture—all while the attention on COVID-19 continued to wane. By comparison, energy and environment maintained a rare upward trend both because of climate- and energy-related components of President Biden’s agenda and international climate milestones, namely the publication of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Sixth Assessment Report (IPCC AR6) and the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference (COP26).

Social issues surpassed racial equity as the 10th most mentioned topic in Q3. Members of Congress from both parties tweeted about the topic at comparable levels (Democrats about 1,450 times and Republicans just shy of 1,300 times). Republicans were most vocal around mid-July, when a House subcommittee approved a Department of Health and Human Services funding bill without the Hyde Amendment, which had prohibited the use of federal Medicaid to cover almost all abortions. Democrats tweeted the most about social issues after the Texas law (SB 8) banning almost all abortions in the state after about six weeks of pregnancy went into effect in September.

Term-by-term breakdowns illustrate the different ways in which the two parties discussed topics of common interest. In tweets about the economy, for example, Democrats often discussed the “health” of the economy, while inflation was a major topic for Republicans. In the parties’ respective mentions of tax in Q3, Democrats tweeted about raising taxes on wealthy individuals and corporations, provisions in the Build Back Better Act, while Republicans tweeted their opposition. As Democrats continue to push President Biden’s infrastructure investment proposal through the legislative process, infrastructure rose to one of the most mentioned words in Q3. Democrats made up 65% of these mentions, yet on August 10, the day the bipartisan infrastructure bill passed the Senate, Democrats and Republicans mentioned infrastructure equally frequently.

Republican members of Congress were responsible for nearly two-thirds of tweets about Afghanistan and focused more on the economic and strategic ramifications of the withdrawal, including U.S. strategic interest in the region vis-a-vis Russia or China. Meanwhile, their Democratic counterparts focused more on immigration in light of the influx of Afghan refugees.

The difference between the Democratic and Republican messaging on the reconciliation process is evident in tweets that are regularly consumed by constituents, members of the media, and Beltway stakeholders. Democrats not only contributed to over 90% of tweets about the reconciliation bill, but they also overwhelmingly referred to President Biden’s budget proposal under consideration by its name, “Build Back Better.” By contrast, most Republicans referred to the ongoing negotiations on the Hill as “reconciliation,” a more technical, less-widely-understood term that gives off the impression of a bureaucratic process.

The reigning leader board champion Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) remained the most prolific tweeter in Q3, even though his overall volume of tweets dropped 22% from Q2 to Q3 and nearly 38% from Q1 to Q3. The rest of the list saw some shuffling from Q2 to Q3. The Democratic side saw a senator, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), rise into the top 10 for the first time since the beginning of 2021; Representatives Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), and Val Demings (D-Fla.) dropped out of the list, having been replaced by Q1 top-ten tweeter Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) and Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas). 

The Republican leader board for the first time became predominantly House members, as Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), Jim Banks (R-Ind.), and Chip Roy (R-Texas) surpassed Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) as the most frequent tweeters. The difference between these top tweeters from the rest of the members of their respective parties are considerable: on average, top 10 Democratic tweeters posted 935 tweets in Q3, while the rest of Democratic members tweeted fewer than 250 times; top 10 Republican tweeters posted 824 times in Q3, whereas the average for the rest of the GOP is 185 times.

Methodology

HPS conducted text analysis on all tweets and retweets from handles included in CSPAN’s “members of Congress” Twitter list that were posted between July 1, 2021 and September 30, 2021. In total, we searched for more than 150 keywords in each of the 130,293 tweets to determine which topics were discussed in each.

Over one hundred thirty countries around the world are debating proposals that would result in some of the most consequential changes to the international tax code in a generation, including implementing a global minimum tax of 15 percent on corporate earnings. The goal of the long-running base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) project at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is to reduce base erosion and profit shifting by convincing so-called “tax havens” to raise corporate tax rates. The current debates and headlines on international tax are often complicated, with many nations taking different views. To simplify the debate, HPS built the International Tax Tracker to highlight the latest information on tax regimes and global minimum tax policy stances for the 53 largest global economies—which comprise 95% of the world’s gross domestic product. 

On October 8th, 136 countries agreed to the “Statement on the Two-Pillar Solution to Address the Tax Challenges Arising from the Digitalisation of the Economy” which outlines a framework for a global minimum tax. The agreement subjects all multinational enterprises with total revenues exceeding €750 million to a 15% minimum tax on a country-by-country basis. The OECD does not have any policymaking authority, and national governments in member and participating countries will ultimately be responsible for implementing tax policy that conforms with the new tax rules. The October agreement lays out a proposed timeline—tax changes should be legislated in 2022 and then implemented in 2023 at the earliest.

The United States has been at the forefront of the BEPS project at the OECD since the Obama administration and led the charge for the global minimum tax efforts in the last year. The international tax provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act enacted a number of anti-profit shifting policies with the Beltway-infamous acronyms of GILTI (Global Intangible Low-Tax Income) and BEAT (Base Erosion and Anti-Abuse Tax).

The Biden administration, the House Ways and Means Committee, and the Senate Finance Committee have each released proposals to change minimum tax rules, each of which exceeds the OECD’s proposed framework. The House Ways and Means plan would raise foreign rates to 16.56%, while the Biden administration’s plan would hike rates to 21%, and the Senate Finance proposal rate is a bit unclear. All proposals would be legislated in 2021 and enacted in 2022, increasing rates on a faster timeline than the OECD and raising concerns from both Democrats and Republicans about the global competitiveness of American companies reaching new customers and markets around the world. This concern is supported by a recent study from the National Association of Manufacturers that found that hiking the GILTI rate could result in 500,000 to 1 million lost U.S. jobs. As a result, many businesses are calling upon lawmakers to align America’s GILTI rate and potential implementation timeline with the OECD’s proposal, and some policymakers have signaled their support for synchronizing the effective date with those of other major economies.

HPS’ International Tax Tracker will follow the global minimum tax and OECD process and be updated weekly to reflect any changes in countries’ positions and policies. Policymakers in 136 countries will be working together towards a common goal, with jobs, economic growth, tax and fiscal policies, and the competitiveness of global businesses at stake. 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Hamilton Place Strategies (HPS) announced today that Jonathan Graffeo and Phalen Kuckuck have joined the firm’s growing team as a managing director and a director, respectively. Graffeo brings an impressive Capitol Hill resume to the firm, while Kuckuck offers deep experience in digital and public affairs campaigns to HPS clients. 

“We’re thrilled to welcome Jonathan and Phalen to our team,” said Matt McDonald, a partner at HPS. “They both have extensive knowledge on key policy issues and experience on strategic communications efforts across the political landscape. I’m confident that their understanding of complex public affairs issues will be an invaluable asset to our clients and the HPS team at large.”

Graffeo joins HPS from Capitol Hill, where he served in senior committee staff roles for U.S. Senator Richard Shelby (R-Ala.). Most recently, he served as deputy staff director on the Senate Appropriations Committee, overseeing messaging and legislative strategy. Prior to that, Graffeo served as communications director on the Senate Banking Committee. Graffeo holds an undergraduate degree from Auburn University and an MBA from Duke University. He is currently working towards his Ph.D. in crisis communication from the University of Alabama.

Kuckuck joins HPS from PLUS Communications and sister company FP1 Strategies, where he served as a digital director overseeing the strategic development of multimillion-dollar advertising, communications, and public affairs campaigns. In this role, Kuckuck led award-winning initiatives for Fortune 500s, political campaigns, and coalitions. Kuckuck has also managed and consulted on political campaigns at the local, state, and federal levels, including runs by now-State Treasurer Riley Moore for West Virginia House and JB Akers for Charleston Mayor. Kuckuck brings to HPS experience in government affairs, as he represented key policy priorities of trade associations, coalitions, and corporations before the West Virginia Legislature and worked in the state capitol as a legislative assistant.