Government Relations

Navigating the maze of politics and policy

When the stakes are high. When the issue seems intractable. When you don’t need business as usual—that’s when we use all our expertise, all our relationships and all our fight to overcome our clients’ public-policy challenges.

Brownstein is one of the nation’s leading lobbying firms, offering a bipartisan team with full-service lobbying, public policy and legal representation that helps companies, associations, nonprofits and other organizations interpret federal government actions, solve challenges and seize opportunities. Brownstein’s government relations team offers comprehensive services before Congress, federal agencies and regulatory bodies, as well as at state and local levels throughout the country.

Areas of Focus

American Indian Law & Policy
Antitrust & Competition Policy

Our attorneys and policy professionals address competition concerns that grow beyond a single jurisdiction. Whether it is working directly on antitrust reviews by states’ attorneys general, or managing the federal role of the Department of Justice, Federal Trade Commission and congressional interest in these processes, we help clients successfully carry their messages and advance their objectives.
Our Team
Appropriations

The universe of federal funding opportunities is vast. Our team helps clients identify and access existing and available funds within agencies, and craft legislative language to create funding avenues moving forward. Over the firm’s history, we have been responsible for hundreds of millions of dollars in new appropriations for our clients.
Our Team
Congressional Oversight & Investigations
Crisis Management
Defense & National Security

We solve budgetary and legislative challenges for clients who are developing innovative solutions to our nation’s most pressing defense and national security needs. Our senior political relationships enable us to navigate the annual authorization and appropriations process for clients, promote national security interests and get us in the door when crafting solutions for important policy changes.
Our Team
Education

We serve as “boots on the ground” in Washington for higher learning institutions and early learning programs across the country. Our team can be found on the front lines of rapidly evolving policy debates and decisions impacting the education space. From universities and online institutions to foundations with educational programs, we represent the organizations that cover a lifetime of learning.
Our Team
Emerging Regulated Industries
Energy, Environment & Resource Strategies
Financial Services

Our team tackles tough issues that require expertise on the interplay between industry and government. We leverage policy acumen and political agility to offer insight into the current state of play in Washington and how forces on the periphery of the financial services industry could impact future legislation, and then create inroads to success. For more, see our Financial Services industry page.
Our Team
Health Care

From data privacy to health and payment reform, we have our fingers on the pulse of the health care industry and deploy our substantive expertise to influence debates, recruit validators and ensure successful outcomes for our clients. The breadth of our clientele, which spans from pharmaceutical companies to Native American tribes, is evidence of our ability to address a wide range of needs. To learn more, see our Health Care industry page.
Our Team

Hospitality & Travel

The hospitality and travel industries face disruption from a myriad of sources. From immigration and workforce issues to complex tax policy and AI, our team helps clients remain engaged and understands the balance between how policymakers weigh concerns, how the public perceives them and what the industry needs to succeed. For more, see our Hospitality, Resort & Recreation industry page.
Our Team
International Business & Foreign Affairs
Labor & Employment

Our team works with policymakers and regulators to cover the spectrum of labor policy, from workforce development and training to organized labor. Our breadth allows us to tackle these issues at the White House, on Capitol Hill and with state governments across the nation.
Our Team
Political Engagement

From raising record-breaking sums for a presidential campaign and campaign committees, to ensuring federal, state and local campaign finance compliance for a Fortune 50 company, our policy professionals cover all facets of political engagement. We develop and execute raising and spending strategies, and partner with clients on relationship-building, events, executive giving and PAC giving.
Our Team
State Government Relations
Strategic Advisory Services

Brownstein has been involved in some of the most consequential policy debates of the past two decades, but we also know what it’s like to sit on the other side of the table. We work hand-in-hand with our corporate clients to prepare them for the unexpected. We understand what shapes the opinions of government decision-makers and how to effectively position corporate strategy to overcome challenges from Washington.
Our Team
Tax Policy
Technology & Telecommunications

From broadband issues and grid security to facial recognition and wireless spectrum, we provide insight into current and future policy and regulation of the diverse components of the traditional and emerging tech and telecom industries. When clients have an acute need, a strategic opportunity or are looking to deploy a new technology, we become their go-to partner.
Our Team
Transportation & Infrastructure

From sea to sky, from highway construction to flight path management, we navigate the transportation landscape to plug our clients in and guide them through the policymaking arena. We use our substantive expertise to develop and deploy innovative solutions to complex transit issues, from access to aviation hubs to NextGen implementation. Learn about identifying federal funding created by implementing the recent infrastructure bill.
Our Team
Veterans Affairs

Recognition

Brownstein Tops Lobbying Industry

From a one-man shop in 1995 to the nation’s No. 1 federal lobbying firm based on revenue —our federal government relations team just keeps getting bigger and better. In a time when playing an active role in policy formation has become essential to organizations everywhere, it’s an unprecedented achievement for a Denver-based firm like our own. So, how did we get here? Driven by an experienced, bipartisan government relations team, our team has held heavy-hitting roles, from Capitol Hill to the Executive Branch to the Department of Justice, across both sides of the aisle—keeping us on the cutting edge in Washington. And with this talent and expertise on our side, we’ll only continue to grow: working on the most high-impact issues affecting businesses across the country.

Government Relations

Bolstering Permanent Carbon Sequestration Projects in Wyoming

Brownstein’s Wyoming Government Relations team secured the passage of amendments to a bill that will create hundreds of jobs, income for landowners and millions in tax revenue for both counties and the state. Working with a coalition of stakeholders—landowners, the oil and gas industry, the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, and the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality—Brownstein succeeded in amending language in HB0032 to help carbon storage developers and landowners build out projects for permanent carbon sequestration. Beyond clarifications around pore space utilization and landowner protections, the updated bill also provides new opportunities for the medical and food and beverage industries needing access to industrial grade CO2 to co-locate near storage fields.

Government Relations

Bolstering Permanent Carbon Sequestration Projects in Wyoming

Keeping Hospitals Funded During a Pandemic

During the drafting of the Coronavirus, Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, Brownstein worked to secure $100 billion for hospitals, doctors and other health care providers nationwide through the Provider Relief Fund. When Republicans’ initial version of the bill did not include a specific fund for these providers, we worked across party lines to build bipartisan support. Providers relied on these funds to keep their doors open as they had to cancel revenue-driving “elective” procedures to prioritize treatment for COVID patients. We secured an additional $75 billion to replenish the fund and also advocated for the creation of the Medicare Accelerated and Advance Payment Program, which gave health care providers early Medicare resulting in tens of millions of advanced payments to our clients.

Safe Water Resources for the Blackfeet Nation

Strong, lasting relationships are a cornerstone of our firm. For example, for nearly a decade, we’ve worked with the Blackfeet Nation providing federal government relations advocacy with a focus on securing and maintaining safe water resources for the tribe. Our successful representation in the Blackfeet Water Rights Settlement Act in 2016 authorized over $420 million in federal funding for the tribe's water-related infrastructure projects. We continue to advocate on behalf of Blackfeet Nation in connection with the implementation of its water settlement with the United States and state of Montana. Our work also includes providing counsel on the Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act for its public water system infrastructure.

Securing Safe Drinking Water for the Navajo Nation in Utah

Nearly 40 percent of the Navajo Nation lacks running water or adequate sanitation in their homes. For years, the Navajo Nation fought for their water rights claims and for clean drinking water infrastructure, to advance public health for the Navajo Nation and ensure its members are not more susceptible to severe illnesses such as COVID-19. To begin to address this issue, our Government Relations and Natural Resources teams worked on behalf of the Navajo Nation and alongside the State of Utah for several years to secure passage of the Navajo Utah Water Rights Settlement act, which Congress passed in 2020. The federal legislation provides over $220 million in federal and state funding for drinking water projects on the Navajo Reservation in Utah and resolves the Nation’s water rights claims against the United States and State of Utah.

Helping an EV start-up Navigate Environmental Policy

Following the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, an electric vehicle (EV) start-up sought to utilize the funds made available by the federal government to build-out electric vehicle charging stations across the nation. They brought the Brownstein team on to provide strategic guidance on how to make this happen. From relationship-building with local, state and federal stakeholders to helping sift through complicated rules and laws related to land-use code, tax policy and zoning, our team drew on its expansive policy knowledge and 50-state approach to inform the company’s business decisions. This included working through challenging issues as municipalities considered the impact an EV charging station would have on their local communities.

Solution-oriented Approach Allows Apparel Businesses to Thrive

As states began to ban PFAS from consumer products, the outdoor apparel industry was hugely impacted as PFAS are often used to achieve water-repellency. Leading outdoor brands are committed to eliminating PFAS from products, but making the switch from long-used chemicals to innovative, safe and sustainable chemicals takes time. That’s where Brownstein came in. Working with local and federal government officials, our team helped obtain additional time to comply with regulations. This meant products already produced could be sold and the company had until 2025 to find alternative solutions to PFAS. We continue to track environmental policy issues that could impact the apparel industry across the country.