Trump’s first-term domestic policy chief registers to lobby for Thales as the FAA rebuilds air traffic control

By Staff Reporter

WASHINGTON — Andrew Bremberg, who directed President Trump’s Domestic Policy Council in the first term and then served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, has registered to lobby on air traffic management for Thales USA, the American arm of the French defense and aviation group, as the Federal Aviation Administration spends billions to replace the country’s air traffic control system.

Bremberg’s firm, Right Policy LLC, filed the registration on Tuesday evening, listing its client as the law firm Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz “on behalf of Thales USA.” The filing describes the issue only as “ATM Issues,” the industry abbreviation for air traffic management. It lists Bremberg as the sole lobbyist and discloses his covered government positions: ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva from 2019 to 2021, assistant to the president and Domestic Policy Council director from 2017 to 2019, counsel to the Senate majority leader and several posts at the Department of Health and Human Services.

A same-day amendment

Two hours earlier on Tuesday, Baker Donelson amended its third-quarter lobbying report for Thales USA. The original report, filed Oct. 13, disclosed $100,000 in income for July through September, two lobbyists, Mark Van de Water and Steven Hyjek, and contacts with the Pentagon, the State Department and both chambers of Congress on “ATM issues, Export Control.” The amendment raises the income to $190,000, adds Bremberg as a lobbyist and adds the Executive Office of the President to the list of agencies contacted.

The filings do not say what Thales wants from the White House or when Bremberg began work. Lobbying disclosure law requires registration within 45 days of a first lobbying contact or of being retained, whichever comes first.

A crowded field of firms

Thales USA and its defense subsidiary already retain several lobbying firms. In third-quarter reports filed this month, JTR Strategies reported $90,000 from Thales USA for work on the FAA’s “Brand New ATC System (BNATCS) radar modernization,” an airspace program called SMART and a “common automation platform,” according to its filing; one of its lobbyists, Jenny Rosenberg, lists past service as acting assistant secretary for aviation and international affairs at the Transportation Department and as an assistant administrator at the FAA. Tholos Government Relations reported $40,000 on “National Airspace Control System Programs.” Innovative Federal Strategies and Holland & Knight each reported $60,000 from Thales Defense & Security for the quarter (IFS filing, Holland & Knight filing).

What is at stake

The administration has promised a “brand-new” air traffic control system by the end of 2028. Congress put $12.5 billion toward it in last year’s tax-and-spending law, and the FAA says it needs about $20 billion more, according to the agency’s fact sheet. Peraton was named prime integrator in December, a contract the FAA later said was worth $1.5 billion, Reuters reported. The FAA awarded radar replacement contracts to RTX and Indra to replace up to 612 radars by June 2028. Politico reported in August that the agency had become frustrated with Peraton’s performance.

Thales sells air traffic management systems around the world. Its lobbyists’ filings point to the next pieces of the U.S. program, including the automation software controllers use and the trajectory-based airspace work.

Bremberg has been registered since March 2025 for PatientRightsAdvocate.org, a health-price transparency group, for which Right Policy reported $62,500 in the third quarter, according to its filing. The Thales registration is the firm’s first for a defense or aviation company in the lobbying database.

Requests for comment

The Inquisitor is seeking comment from Bremberg, Baker Donelson’s lobbying contact, Thales, JTR Strategies and the FAA, and will update this story with their responses.

Photo: The 1500 block of K Street NW in Washington. Photo by AgnosticPreachersKid via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.