Lobbying World: Top Fox Corp lobbyist departs

Longtime Fox Corp. lobbyist and former Biden aide Danny O’Brien is leaving the media giant to become executive vice president and head of U.S. corporate affairs at Qcells, a South Korean solar energy company. O’Brien, who led government relations at Fox since November 2018, previously served as chief of staff to then-Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) and Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.).

His departure comes as Fox News faces a perilous defamation lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems — and as clean energy companies push for funding from the Biden administration. 

Robin Juliano joined Cornerstone Government Affairs’s lobbying team. Juliano most recently served as Democratic staff director on the powerful House Appropriations Committee under Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.). She previously was a senior policy adviser on then-President Obama’s National Economic Council. 

Courtney Ryan and Lucas West joined the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association as vice presidents of government affairs. Ryan comes from the Credit Union National Association, where she was director of advocacy, and previously was deputy executive director and finance director of House Majority PAC, the top super PAC for House Democrats. West most recently served as a senior policy adviser for Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Mo.), who chairs the House Financial Services Committee’s subcommittee on national security, illicit finance and international financial institutions.

The Center for American Progress brought on Alondra Nelson as a distinguished senior fellow. Nelson, who recently left the White House to return to the Institute for Advanced Study as a professor, previously served as acting director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy.

Elevate Government Affairs hired Tyler Hardy as a vice president. Hardy was a longtime aide to Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.), most recently serving as his deputy legislative director.

Walmart hired Katie Mercer as a senior manager for federal government affairs. Mercer most recently was a senior adviser for public policy at the Society for Human Resource Management and previously served as legislative director for Rep. Rick Allen (R-Ga.).

Procter & Gamble hired Christina Lotspike as director of government relations. Lotspike most recently was senior federal affairs manager at Instacart and previously was vice president of technology and transportation advocacy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. 

Lobbying World documents the top lobbying hires in the nation’s capital every week. Send tips to Karl at kevers@digital-staging.thehill.com.