Meta is said to form bipartisan influence group ahead of elections

Meta (META) is building a bipartisan group of former political operatives ahead of midterm elections as the Facebook owner seeks to deepen its relationships with both Democrats and Republicans, Axios reported on Saturday.

According to sources, Meta (META) president and vice chairman Dina Powell McCormick, a former bank executive who served the first Trump administration, is spearheading a new recruitment drive to achieve the goal.

The hiring initiative under Powell McCormick saw Michael Hacker, a longtime aide to House Democratic power broker Jim Clyburn, joining Meta (META) as VP of compute initiatives. Also, Nick Schmit, a former top aide to the Biden Administration’s Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, joined as director of strategic partnership management.

The company has also added several former Trump administration officials, including Pat Trueman, a senior official on Trump's 2024 presidential campaign who joined Meta's U.S. policy operation. Meanwhile, Josh Raffel, who worked with Powell McCormick during the first Trump administration, was also recently hired as VP of compute initiatives.

There was a slew of promotions aimed at facilitating the transition. While Powell McCormick recently added external affairs to her portfolio, the company promoted Brian Rice, a former aide to Democratic Secretary of State John Kerry, to lead its U.S. government affairs.

Tucker Bounds, who served on John McCain's presidential campaign, was elevated to the position of head of global communications, while C.J. Mahoney, a former Trump administration official, was named Meta's (META) chief legal officer in January.

Mahoney, who served as deputy U.S. Trade Representative during the first Trump administration, has assumed additional policy responsibilities since then.

According to sources, Meta (META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Powell McCormick met with the Democratic House Commission on Artificial Intelligence and the Innovation Economy in August following an invitation from Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.).

The discussions with Gottheimer and other Democrats who co-chair the commission focused on the company's AI strategy, including its infrastructure build-out and economic investment plans.

The meeting and the recruitments underscore Meta’s (META) efforts to influence U.S. politics amid growing public scrutiny over artificial intelligence and data center buildout ahead of the midterm elections.

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