By renewing two of the agreements last week, Jenniffer González’s administration has already awarded or maintained federal lobbying and consulting contracts worth over $1 million, according to data from the Puerto Rico Comptroller’s Office and the US Senate registry.

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Looking ahead to this fiscal year, and at a time when it is seeking to influence the White House regarding upcoming appointments to the Fiscal Oversight Board (FOMB), the González administration signed new contracts with Navigators Global ($240,000) and SME Group ($175,000).

Navigators Global—which had a $126,000 contract in the first half of the four-year term—has had a second contract since August 4 for $240,000 with the Financial Advisory and Fiscal Agency Authority (AAFAF), led by Secretary of the Interior Francisco Domenech. The details of the new contract have not yet been published on the Comptroller’s website.

The second quarter spending report, filed with the US Senate, indicates that Navigators Global lobbied Congress on issues such as “energy infrastructure,” the response to recent natural disasters, tax and manufacturing issues, Medicaid, and housing.

Navigators Global also pushed for Puerto Rico’s status, although for the first time in more than a decade, a New Progressive Party (PNP) government has not promoted federal legislation in favor of statehood or a federal plebiscite with status alternatives in the first seven months of its four-year term.

This company—whose founders include César Conda (former advisor to then-Senator and now Secretary of State Marco Rubio)—lobbied for years on behalf of the pro-statehood organization Puerto Rico Statehood Council, founded by former Secretary of Justice José Fuentes Agostini—the island’s Republican liaison to Washington, D.C.—and linked to Empresas Fonalledas.

On behalf of the Puerto Rican government, Navigators Global has used Conda, Ryan Berger, Sarah Rogers, Natalie Enclade, and Jim Carter as lobbyists before Congress and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

The administration of González—who is Republican and conservative—also renewed the contract with the SME Group, led by Puerto Rican Margarita Varela Rosa, which is tasked with assisting the Central Office for Recovery, Reconstruction, and Resilience (COR3) and the Authority for Public-Private Partnerships (AAPP) with access to reconstruction funds.

The new SME Group contract, which took effect on August 4, is worth $175,000 and would run until June 2026. The previous contract was for $80,000 and ran from April to June of this year.

“The purpose of this agreement is for (SME Group) to provide federal affairs, communications, and national engagement services to (COR3 and AAPP) in support of Puerto Rico’s recovery, reconstruction, and resilience efforts, as detailed in the proposal included as Appendix A to this agreement. (SME Group) will assist COR3 in the implementation of federal policies, advise on legislative strategies, and facilitate communication with federal agencies, Congress, and relevant national organizations,” states the first contract filed in April.

Varela Rosa served as FEMA’s liaison to Congress during Joe Biden’s administration. Previously, she worked on issues related to Puerto Rico, including the status debate, as an advisor to the then-chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, the recently deceased Democratic Congressman Raúl Grijalva (Arizona). In March, she attended the pro-statehood summit held in Congress by Governor González.

SME Group has not submitted reports to Congress, which would mean that its consulting services do not include lobbying.

On the other hand, since the spring, it has been known that Aafaf signed a $200,000 contract with Continental Strategy, which was in effect from March 24 to June 30.

Continental Strategy has lobbied on behalf of the González administration before the White House and the Trump administration’s departments of Commerce, Transportation, Justice, Education, and Homeland Security. It also performed tasks before the US Trade Representative and the House of Representatives.

Although the person responsible for the lobbying has been Chris Miles, who was deputy chief of staff to then-Republican Congressman Carlos Curbelo, Continental Strategy is led by former US ambassador to the Organization of American States, Carlos Trujillo; Katie Wiles, daughter of White House Chief of Staff Susan Wiles; and Alberto Martínez, who was an advisor to then-Senator Rubio.

Trujillo was the US ambassador to the OAS during Trump’s first administration.

When he testified in October 2018 before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) about the independent complaints filed by former governor Pedro Rosselló and lawyer Gregorio Igartúa, who claim that the lack of voting rights for Puerto Rico residents in the formation of the federal government represents a violation of human and civil rights, Trujillo indicated that Puerto Ricans who want statehood can move to a state.

Just as La Fortaleza maintains that it is having a “fairly fluid” conversation with the White House about the next members of the JSF—after saying that the governor was not consulted on the decision to dismiss five of those officials—Continental Strategy is the only consulting firm in Washington, D.C., that has claimed to be lobbying the executive office of the US president.

La Fortaleza did not respond to questions about which lobbying firm and which lobbyist has been in charge of the talks with Trump’s office regarding the upcoming appointments to the FOMB.

During the first half of the year, the González administration also hired Todd Strategy for $131,250 through Aafaf. That first contract was in effect between March 5 and June 30.

The Todd Strategy contract, filed with the Office of the Comptroller, states that it will assist the Puerto Rico government on issues such as Medicaid, Medicare, and “discrepancies in treatment” in the area of health care, compared to the states of the United States.

In its second quarter 2025 report to Congress, Todd Strategy reported that it lobbied Congress and the US Department of Health and Human Services on Medicare coverage and Medicaid funding. It has reported that its lobbyists in charge of Puerto Rico issues are Paul Edattel, Nicholas Uehlecke, Katherine Fleming, Ted Lehman, and Daniel Todd, who was a senior advisor to the Senate Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over the Medicaid program.

In the first half of the year, the González administration also had a $54,000 contract with Cornerstone Government Affairs, which previously advised the administrations of Pedro Pierluisi and Ricardo Rosselló.

Cornerstone has been responsible for issues such as Medicare and Medicaid, and has lobbied Congress, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

Upon assuming the governorship, González maintained the contracts of two lobbying and legal advisory firms that Pierluisi had awarded in 2024.

On the one hand, the working relationship with King & Spalding remained in effect—at least until last June—which had legal advisory and lobbying contracts worth nearly $2.4 million during the last fiscal year, including with the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA), Aafaf, and the Government Development Bank Debt Recovery Authority.

Before Congress, King & Spalding reported income and expenses of $120,000 in the first quarter of the year, although it says it had no formal lobbying activity.

Squire Patton Boggs, for its part, reported to Congress that it had revenues and expenses of $120,000 during the first half of 2025, through two contracts with Aafaf totaling $900,000 and covering the entire Puerto Rican fiscal year, which ended in June 2025.

Squire Patton Boggs’ 2025 lobbying—which has had contracts with the Puerto Rican government since at least the administration of Alejandro García Padilla—before Congress was related to the reimbursement of federal excise taxes on rum imported from Puerto Rico.

As part of the fiscal reconciliation law with Trump’s priorities, which the president signed during the July 4 celebrations, the increase in the reimbursement that had been legislated periodically was made permanent, which will guarantee, starting in January, an additional $70 million to the Puerto Rican treasury.

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This content was translated from Spanish to English using artificial intelligence and was reviewed by an editor before being published.