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GM fires outside lobbyists, apparently cutting 17% of lobbying budget
By: Timothy P. Carney
Examiner Columnist
06/03/09 12:01 PM EDT
My piece on GM's continuing to lobby got plenty of attention this morning (thanks to Drudge), but within the past hour, I've learned that GM is scrapping one portion of its lobbying operation. A GM spokesman wrote me this morning to inform me that things had changed since we last communicated, and that all outside lobbying contracts were cancelled yesterday afternoon.
GM spent $500,000 on outside lobbyists last quarter, which amounts to 17% of its total lobbying budget. A K Street lobbyist who represented GM until yesterday told me that GM's in-house lobbying shop might shrink, too. I'm waiting on GM to get back to me on whether they will continue to spend more than $2 million per quarter.
And to give credit where it's due, Matthew Murray at Roll Call got this scoop last night.
[update, 12:07 pm: The outside GM lobbyists I've talked to mid-day today still hadn't gotten word that their contracts were cancelled.]
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