Lobbying world

• Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld snagged Sen. Rob Portman’s (R-Ohio) tax counsel, hiring Zachary Rudisill as a partner in the firm’s public law and policy practice. Rudisill had worked for Portman since 2014, including handling his trade policy portfolio. 

• Morgan Lewis hired Ryan Kantor, former assistant chief of the Justice Department’s Healthcare and Consumer Products Section of the Antitrust Division, to serve as a partner in its Washington office. 

• John Wood has been named the chief legal officer and general counsel of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and begins in the role on June 4. He comes from Hughes Hubbard & Reed.

• Landon Stropko, who most recently served as the legislative director for Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), has joined Invariant. He has a 14-year tenure on Capitol Hill, previously working as the chief of staff and legislative director for former Rep. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) and as a legislative assistant for former Rep. Barbara Cubin (R-Wyo.).

• Strategic communications firm Blue Engine Message & Media added three new staffers to its team. The first is Kevin Lewis, a former spokesman at the White House and Justice Department during the Obama administration who helped establish communications for former President Obama after he left office. The second is Will Mesinger, who previously worked at Signal Group and has also worked in the State Department and on Capitol Hill. The third hire is Alyson Chwatek, who comes from lobbying firm S-3 Public Affairs and previously worked at the bipartisan political group No Labels.

• Greenberg Traurig hired Jonathan Becker as a shareholder in the firm’s government law and policy practice. He comes from bipartisan firm Invariant, where he oversaw the judiciary and telecommunications practice group. Prior to that, he served as a public policy consultant to Delta Air Lines and, before that, was chief of staff to Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.).