With Daniel Lippman and Theodoric Meyer

FIRST IN PI: Columbia, S.C., Mayor Steve Benjamin has been named co-chair of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition’s education arm, the Center for U.S. Global Leadership Board. The mayor will replace the Aspen Institute and Bipartisan Policy Center’s Dan Glickman, who is stepping down to become a senior adviser for the coalition, which promotes American diplomatic efforts. “Mayor Benjamin’s appointment as USGLC’s co-chair is not only ground-breaking but grounded in our DNA – that USGLC is rooted in main street America and no one reflects this better than America’s mayors,” Liz Schrayer, USGLC’s president and CEO, said in a statement. Benjamin “joins more than 200 mayors across our State Advisory Committees who know that what happens globally matters locally to our nation’s health, economic, and security interests,” she added.

NEW COVID RELIEF PUSH: The coalition of more than 300 groups hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic launched a six-figure ad buy today urging lawmakers to pass some form of economic relief during the lame-duck session. The 30-second spot from the COVID Relief NOW Coalition, which will run on digital platforms including Twitter, YouTube, Google and connected TVs, features news clips talking about the economic devastation of the pandemic, contending that “we cannot wait any longer” for America’s “leaders to lead.”

— The coalition includes heavy-hitters from a range of industries including the National Retail Federation, the National Governors Association, U.S. Travel Association and the American Hotel & Lodging Association. “The election is over, and now it is time for Congress to do their job by prioritizing the many businesses and employees in the hardest-hit industries,” said AHLA President and CEO Chip Rogers in a statement.

— The latest push comes as the numbers of new coronavirus cases and hospitalizations continue to soar ahead of an even greater surge expected in the wake of the Thanksgiving holiday, prompting states and localities to order business closures. The group has argued that it can’t wait for President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration in January for another relief package, and has pushed for at least at least a second round of Paycheck Protection Program loans or other measures with bipartisan support.

— The expiration at the end of the year of a number of supports like enhanced unemployment and moratoriums on eviction and student loan payments are adding heightened urgency in Congress, where bipartisan groups of Senators are attempting to revive stalled talks between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, our Burgess Everett reports. “It would be stupidity on steroids if Congress didn't act before the holidays,” Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), who is part of the group trying to resuscitate negotiations, said on MSNBC this morning.

Good afternoon and welcome to PI. Hope you all had a safe and relaxing Thanksgiving, but let’s get back to it: Send me your best K Street tips: [email protected]. And follow me on Twitter: @caitlinoprysko.

BIDEN ECONOMIC PICKS PRAISED FOR ‘COMPETENCE’: Biden formally rolled out his first round of economic hires today, headlined by his nominee for Treasury secretary, former Fed chair Janet Yellen, and his pick to lead the Office of Management and Budget, Center for American Progress head Neera Tanden. Biden’s pick of Yellen, who would be the first woman to run the Treasury if confirmed, has won wide praise even from those who disagree with her on policy.

— Many conservatives scoffed at Tanden’s impending nomination, pointing to her prolific Twitter feed and her liberal think tank’s spat with Sen. Bernie Sanders during the Democratic primary. But S-3 Group’s Kevin Casey defended Tanden as a qualified steward of the agency in charge of the budget and regulations, touting her upbringing on government programs like SNAP and calling her nomination a shift towards a Cabinet that reflects the diversity of America. For all of Biden’s Cabinet picks so far, Casey, a former Democratic Hill aide, remarked: “No one is questioning anyone’s competence.”

— Jay Timmons, who leads the National Association of Manufacturers, praised Yellen’s “extraordinary expertise and sterling credentials” while describing good experiences meeting with her while she was chairwoman of the Federal Reserve. “We were struck by, and appreciative of, how focused she was on American workers and the success of the manufacturing sector,” Timmons said in a statement, calling the trade group’s conversations with her “refreshingly never one-way.”

— Yellen is a “brilliant monetary economist,” Travis Norton, a lobbyist at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, said in an interview last week, predicting the business community would appreciate her “thoughtful” and “deliberative” approach and that Yellen will bring issues of gender and racial inequity to the forefront of her work at the department.

DON’T COUNT ON SIGNIFICANT CANNABIS ACTION IN NEXT CONGRESS: “On Election Day, two staunchly conservative states legalized recreational marijuana. A third of Americans now live in a state where weed is legal for adult use. Fresh Gallup polling says 68 percent of the country favors having legal access to marijuana. But the Senate operates under a different reality,” our Natalie Fertig reports.

— “Democrats will have a slimmer majority in the House come January, but advocates still anticipate that the passage of weed laws in red states — and the addition of members from both parties to the ranks of legal state lawmakers — means the chamber will advance a broad cannabis agenda. But the Senate is key to any major change to federal cannabis law. Without a Senate open to considering comprehensive legislation, any major bills passed by the House are likely to stall.”

— “The best chance for any cannabis legislation in the 117th Congress will be small policy changes” like bills that boost medical marijuana research or improve access to banking for the cannabis industry — such as the SAFE Banking Act, which Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), who will chair the Senate Banking Committee next year should Republicans hold the majority, has said he would consider.

KNOWING ANITA DUNN: Dunn, a senior adviser to the Biden campaign, is one of the president-elect’s only top aides who has said they won’t take a job in the White House, but “aides with ties to Biden say Dunn’s outside role may make her more influential,” The Atlantic’s Edward Isaac-Dovere writes. Dunn, who returned to her firm SKDKnickerbocker shortly after Biden was declared winner of the election, “knows how to keep Biden and his team focused, and how to work areas of agreement and weak points to exploit. She’ll find ways to needle Republicans, many of whom have spent the past few weeks demonstrating that they have no qualms about undermining Biden even before he’s sworn in. On the outside, she’ll also be free to wrangle politicians, companies, and other interested parties that Biden will need behind him if he’s going to have any hope of the next four years being more than just a well-meaning mess.”

AP INVESTIGATES THE RISE AND FALL OF IMAAD ZUBERI: “As an elite political fundraiser, Imaad Zuberi had the ear of top Democrats and Republicans alike — a reach that included private meetings with then-Vice President Joe Biden and VIP access at Donald Trump’s inauguration,” the Associated Press’ Alan Suderman and Jim Mustian write. “He lived a lavish, jet-setting lifestyle, staying at fine hotels and hosting lawmakers and diplomats at four-star restaurants. Foreign ambassadors turned to Zuberi to get face time in Congress. A CIA officer called him the ‘best connected person I know,’ marveling at the depth of his Rolodex.” But “Zuberi’s life was built on a series of lies and the lucrative enterprise of funding American political campaigns and profiting from the resulting influence,” according to federal prosecutors.

— The AP’s investigation “identified associates, enablers and targets of Zuberi’s influence efforts, drawing on private emails, court documents, campaign finance reports, and interviews with more than three dozen people including diplomats, law enforcement officials, lobbyists, and former members of Congress. Taken together, they present a fuller picture of Zuberi’s rapid rise and fall in politics and the cracks in the system that allowed it to happen.”

— Susan Lagana has joined Brunswick Group as a partner in the D.C. office, where she will advise on public affairs, including matters related to financial regulation and economic policy, and crisis management. She was previously managing director for public affairs at Burson, Cohn & Wolfe.

— The Electronic Transactions Association has hired Max Behlke as director of state government affairs. He previously worked at the National Conference of State Legislatures developing NCSL’s policy on state matters.

— Eddie Evans is now director of global comms at Jenner & Block in New York. He previously was director of communications at Boies Schiller Flexner.

— Stephanie Marrs has joined Targeted Victory as a director of public affairs. She was previously social media manager at the National Federation of Independent Business and is a Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) alum.

— Mattie Duppler is now manager for public policy at Amazon. She previously ran Forward Strategies and served as the senior fellow for fiscal policy at the National Taxpayers Union.

For the Senate 2020 (Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Jon Ossoff for Senate, Warnock for Georgia)

Coalition for Liberty and Progress (Hybrid PAC)
First Amendment Advocates, LLC Super PAC (PAC)
GLA Action, Inc. (Super PAC)
Save the US Senate PAC (Super PAC)
Reform San Francisco (Super PAC)

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld: Sight Sciences, Inc.
awsom assoc: eagle pha
awsom assoc: Holy Name Med Ctr
Cassidy & Associates, Inc.: Ocean Conservancy, Inc.
Downs Government Affairs: Laramie County Community College
Hawley LLC: MLA Associates on behalf of Sustainable Ozarks Partnership

E2 Strategies, LLC: Patriot One Technologies (Fka Patriot One Detection)
Ballard Partners: Blue Wolf Capital Fund IV, LP
Ballard Partners: NanoPure, LLC
Ballard Partners: NES Health
Dana Rohrabacher LLC: Linear Therapies, Inc.