Pulitzer-Prize winning investigative journalist; Bestselling author; Adjunct Journalism Professor, Georgetown University
With nearly two decades covering business in Washington for The Wall Street Journal and a bestselling book, Brody Mullins explains how changes in the Republican and Democratic parties have uprooted business-as-usual in Washington and created new threats for big businesses in America.
In just the past few years, the political currents have shifted against big U.S. businesses in Washington. A growing number of Republicans, Democrats, and regular Americans believe many U.S. corporations have grown too large and have too much influence in the economy, government, education, international affairs, society, and their own lives. The shift is most stark in the Republican Party, where populists – led by President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance – are promoting policies that benefit downtrodden, working-class Americans at the expense of corporations that were once in lock-step with the GOP.
As a result, instead of celebrating Donald Trump’s return to the White House, many business executives are worried. Trump has threatened to break up Big Tech companies, cap credit card fees for commercial banks, cap prices for pharmaceutical firms, and create import tariffs that will hurt oil companies, manufacturers, and the agricultural sector.
Brody Mullins explains how this shift occurred – and what companies can do about it.
Brody Mullins on the Microsoft and Google Antitrust Cases
Brody Mullins on Lobbying During a Trump Presidency
Brody Mullins on Paul Manafort
Brody Mullins on the Evolution of Lobbying
Brody Mullins on Advice for Boardrooms on Lobbying
Brody Mullins on the Microsoft and Google Antitrust Cases
Brody Mullins’s Speech Topics
Donald Trump Is Shaking up Washington and Threatening Big Businesses
The pro-business alliance that existed for a half-century is coming unglued. The rise of progressive Democrats and populist Republicans — led by Donald Trump and J.D. Vance — is threatening businesses from big banks to Big Tech. Brody Mullins talks about how changes in the Republican Party — led by the rise of anti-business populists — are turning Washington upside-down and creating new threats to the largest American industries. An increasing number of Republicans in Congress are splitting with their former allies in corporate America to propose bills with Democrats like liberal Sen. Elizabeth Warren to cap interest rates, help labor unions, and regulate U.S. industries. Mullins talks about how that happened and how companies can fight back.
How Companies Built Their Political Power From the 1970s to Today
For most of the last century, corporations had little influence in Washington. The government was dominated by labor unions, environmental groups, and other liberal organizations. From FDR’s New Deal to LBJ’s Great Society, those liberal groups pushed thought scores of bills to increase the government’s size and strength. Then, in the 1970s, companies began pushing back by hiring lobbyists and making campaign donations to build alliances among both Republicans and Democrats. For the next four decades, corporations held together a pro-business alliance that ushered in an unprecedented period of U.S. economic growth. The history can be a model for how companies today can advance pro-business policies.
The Realignment of the Republican Party
Since the days of Ronald Reagan, the Republican Party has stood in lock-step with businesses in supporting lower taxes, less regulation, free trade, and liberal immigration. Not anymore. Republicans today oppose free trade agreements and champion tighter immigration controls. Most Republicans still support lower taxes, but some have promised to vote against the renewal of Donald Trump’s tax cut. While the party generally opposes government regulations on business, dozens of Republicans – including J.D. Vance – think the government needs to use antitrust laws to rein in large tech companies and other consolidated industries. Brody Mullins talks about how changes in demographics, politics, and business have shifted the Republicans from the party of Reagan to the party of Trump.
