PULSE POINTS:

What Happened: The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) has hired powerful Republican lobbyist Brian Ballard to lobby against any proposed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cuts to the public broadcaster’s funding.

Who’s Involved: Lobbyist Brian Ballard, PBS, and DOGE.

Where & When: Washington, D.C.

Key Quote: “The Presidential Personnel Office, which is responsible for recruiting and vetting political appointees, will count its deputy director as Trent Morse… a former senior associate at Ballard Partners, the GOP-aligned lobbying firm where he worked on behalf of dozens of clients between 2021 and 2022, lobbying disclosures show.” — The Washington Examiner on January 23, 2025.

Impact: Ballard’s extensive ties to the White House and Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill could make DOGE efforts to reduce taxpayer funding of PBS a difficult task.

IN FULL:

Brian Ballard, an influential Republican lobbyist with ties to numerous establishment Republican Party figures and numerous top politicians in Florida, has registered as a lobbyist for the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). According to lobbying disclosure reports, Ballard’s lobbying work will pertain to PBS’s funding and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). This likely means that the Republican lobbyist has been tapped by the public broadcaster to head off any potential cuts in taxpayer funding recommended by DOGE to President Donald J. Trump.

Since President Trump’s landslide 2024 election victory, a cohort of Republican Party insiders have seen a boon in lobbying contracts from individuals and companies that had previously alienated themselves from the America First leader. The National Pulse previously reported that Facebook founder and Big Tech billionaire Mark Zuckerberg hired establishment Republican money man Brian Baker to help smooth relations with GOP lawmakers and center-right think tankers in Washington, D.C. Baker is no stranger to the Facebook co-founder and billionaire, having helped Zuckerberg’s so-called “election infrastructure” efforts during the 2022 midterm elections.

In the case of Ballard, much like Baker, the GOP lobbyist has extensive ties to many key figures in the political establishment. Ballard has served as a co-chair for the inaugurations of three Florida governors: Ron DeSantis, Rick Scott, and former Republican Charlie Crist. Additionally, Ballard was active as the Florida Finance Committee chairman for John McCain‘s 2008 presidential campaign, Mitt Romney‘s 2012 presidential campaign, and the Trump 2016 presidential campaign. The GOP lobbyist also served as the Finance Vice Chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC).

Notably, during the 2016 Republican presidential primary, Ballard first backed Jeb Bush and then Marco Rubio before finally lending his support to Trump once the nomination fight was all but settled. Ballard has worked as a lobbyist and fundraiser since the end of his tenure as chief of staff to former Florida Governor Bob Martinez, who left office in 1991.

Both PBS and National Public Radio (NPR) have come under intense scrutiny from lawmakers on Capitol Hill and DOGE staffers. For years, Republicans have pushed to defund the two entities and their parent organization, the taxpayer-funded Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).

Image by Matthew Hurst.

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