I sat down with Leigh Ann Caldwell for a Puck interview on how K Street was handled during the One Big Beautiful Bill — ignored in some respects, shut out entirely in others — and how different the process felt from the 2017 tax reform fight.
In a very candid chat, Donovan broke down how lobbyists were ignored in some respects, and completely shut out of the process in others. The following conversation has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Leigh Ann Caldwell: How influential was K Street in crafting the BBB compared to eight years ago, when the first Trump administration passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act?
Liam Donovan: It’s been very, very different in terms of the level of open collaboration. Back then, you had a blank canvas. And the idea was, Okay, we can kind of do whatever we want in tax reform. It was very hand in glove — Republicans on Capitol Hill working with friendly industries to shape policies, take stakeholder input, and ultimately support the product. That’s really not been this experience.