Arab Press

بالشعب و للشعب
Friday, Sep 05, 2025

Saudi US lobbying boosted with ex-House Foreign Affairs chair in its team

Saudi US lobbying boosted with ex-House Foreign Affairs chair in its team

Saudi Arabia's lobbying efforts in the US have been given a massive shot in the arm after a former chair of the influential House Foreign Affairs Committee, Republican member of Congress Ed Royce, registered his name as a foreign agent for Riyadh.
Royce has nearly three decades of experience in Washington having served as Congress member for one of California's districts from 1993 to 2019. The 69-year-old also served as chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, during the last six years of his term in office, after which he took up a job as a lobbyist for law firm, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck.

Also known as the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, the standing group has jurisdiction over bills, programmes and investigations concerning the foreign affairs of the US, which means that it has a huge influence in the way Washington goes about its business with foreign states including a mandate to scrutinise deployments abroad, arms control, international economic policy and other matters.

Politico Influence, a magazine which monitors lobbying in Washington, reported that Royce will join Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck team representing Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, according to a new filing with the Justice Department (DOJ), to "facilitate meetings with federal government officials either via phone or email on behalf of" the ministry.

According to DOJ filings, Brownstein has represented the Saudi ministry since 2016 and was paid around $1.8 million for its work on the kingdom's behalf over the past year alone.

Royce has lobbied on behalf of several countries including Libya and Egypt but his selection by the Saudis has raised eyebrows, especially as the kingdom is going through a rough patch with the administration of President Joe Biden. A spokesperson for Brownstein, said in an interview that there was nothing behind the timing of Royce joining the Saudi account, but added that his background and expertise as the top Republican on the Foreign Affairs panel was appealing to the client.

It's reported that Riyadh went on a hiring spree for lobbyists immediately after the election of Joe Biden, who had signalled that he will take a tougher stance with the nation. The Saudi's enjoyed four years of extremely cosy relations with former US President Donald Trump to such a degree that it's claimed Washington turned a blind eye following the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Several high-powered lobbyists in Washington severed ties with Riyadh following the grisly murder of the Saudi critic.

But a report in the Foreign Policy magazine found that in the two-plus years since the murder, Riyadh has managed to largely restore its influence machine in the capital and in other parts of the country, hiring at least 16 lobbying firms to help boost US-Saudi trade relations and scrub Riyadh's image on issues including its devastating war in Yemen and its treatment of women, according to foreign agent registration filings with the Justice Department.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Arab Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Trump Backs Putin’s Land-for-Peace Proposal Amid Kyiv’s Rejection
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
United States Sells Luxury Yacht Amadea, Valued at Approximately $325 Million, in First Sale of a Seized Russian Yacht Since the Invasion of Ukraine
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announce engagement
Asia-Pacific dominates world’s busiest flight routes, with South Korea’s Jeju–Seoul corridor leading global rankings
Private Welsh island with 19th-century fort listed for sale at over £3 million
Sam Altman challenges Elon Musk with plans for Neuralink rival
Australia to Recognize the State of Palestine at UN Assembly
The Collapse of the Programmer Dream: AI Experts Now the Real High-Earners
Armenia and Azerbaijan to Sign US-Brokered Framework Agreement for Nakhchivan Corridor
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
China Tightens Mineral Controls, Curtailing Critical Inputs for Western Defence Contractors
JPMorgan and Coinbase Unveil Partnership to Let Chase Cardholders Buy Crypto Directly
British Tourist Dies Following Hair Transplant in Turkey, Police Investigate
WhatsApp Users Targeted in New Scam Involving Account Takeovers
Trump Deploys Nuclear Submarines After Threats from Former Russian President Medvedev
Germany’s Economic Breakdown and the Return of Militarization: From Industrial Collapse to a New Offensive Strategy
Germany Enters Fiscal Crisis as Cabinet Approves €174 Billion in New Debt
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
×