“It’s been said that, where Florida goes, the rest of the country goes, whether it’s politics or policy,” said Rachel Cone, senior managing partner at the Southern Group. “So I think it is fair to assume that — especially with a lot of the leadership transitioning to D.C. — Florida policies or ways of doing things here might also transition with them. As Florida’s largest lobbying firm, we are well-positioned to help translate Florida-born policies to businesses who may be encountering them at the federal level.”
The Southern Group opened its federal lobbying arm, TSG Advocates, in Washington this year, hiring three lobbyists with more expected. It’s closing on a townhouse on the northeast side of Capitol Hill, behind the Supreme Court, with Cone saying the firm’s building a strategy for “the next 100 years.”
Lobbyists said clients are excited about potential new business but that there’s also uncertainty given the slashing and firing of the federal workforce under Musk’s DOGE. Countries want help negotiating trade deals and have questions about Trump flirting with acquiring Greenland and taking back the Panama Canal.
“There are countries out there that are really excited about this White House, because they see the president as a deal maker, and they want to get in on that action,” said Chase Kroll, founding partner of TSG Advocates who has congressional expertise after working in D.C. for 15 years. He called the firm’s Florida connections “highly marketable” with “a lot of clients coming in” and recruits wanting to join the firm.
“It’s incredible,” Kroll said of the relationships. “It’s sort of obnoxious to do the name-dropping game, but you know who all the people are from Florida who run the White House, run State … All of these things are just lining up for us to help clients.”