Gephardt Group Grows. There may be a groundswell of grass-roots support to draft former House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt (D-Mo.) as the Health and Human Services secretary, but all signs point to the former Show Me State lawmaker staying in the private sector.
In recent days, Gephardt has received support on Facebook with a page dedicated to drafting Gephardt for the HHS gig. Not only would the Gephardt Group's lobbying portfolio, which includes clients such as GE/NBC Universal, Goldman Sachs and Anheuser-Busch, likely preclude him from being nominated, he's also expanding his influence-peddling footprint.
The five-person firm is adding Janice O'Connell, Joel Freedman and Catherine Goode to its roster.
O'Connell, former senior foreign policy and national security adviser to Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), most recently worked as a senior international adviser at Hogan & Hartson and as senior adviser to consulting firm Stonebridge International.
Freedman, who will oversee the firm's financial services clients, worked for the past 17 years at Hartford Financial Services Group.
Goode, who will oversee strategic communications and be a part of the international affairs team, joins after a stint as director in Quinn Gillespie & Associates' international practice.
So far, it looks like replacing former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) as HHS secretary nominee is far from his mind.
"Mr. Gephardt was honored to have served as House Majority Leader and greatly fulfilled by his long tenure in public service," Goode said. "He enjoys being helpful to the administration in his current role."
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