Business Insider Profiles Donnelly, Dunn Among Leading Budget Reconciliation Lobbyists

In an article published today, Business Insider profiled Akin Gump public law and policy partners Sen. Joe Donnelly and Brendan Dunn as among those with deep experience in the U.S. Senate’s budget reconciliation process who are working to help clients navigate the $4+ trillion infrastructure plan proposed by President Joe Biden.

The article notes Elizabeth MacDonough, the Senate Parliamentarian, with her team, will make the final recommendation regarding which policies Democrats can push under the reconciliation process, a strategy that will help Dems sidestep a likely GOP filibuster of this legislation.

Donnelly, a Democrat who represented Indiana in both the House and Senate, said, “Parliamentarian McDonough is incredibly talented and deeply respected by everyone in the Senate. She is also viewed as totally fair, with no partisan lean to her decisions—she goes by the book."

The article notes that he is advising clients on reconciliation. He said, “Work has been very busy with reconciliation, as everyone wants to know how things might play out.”

Dunn is noted as having worked as a senior advisor to then-Senate Majority Leader McConnell and advised Senate GOP leadership on tax, trade and financial services matters.

He said of the Democratic runoff victories in Georgia Senate races, “Simply put, none of the president's tax agenda would be on the table if the Republicans had won just one of those seats.”

Dunn said that the tax portion of the infrastructure bill would be the hardest: “As we saw with the rescue plan, spending money is relatively easy. Raising taxes is hard. I think as the business and individual tax increases are better understood, you are seeing increasing skittishness among Democrats about the financing of the family and jobs plans.”