Ballard Partners’ DC operation adds another White House alum

Ballard Partners has expanded its Washington, D.C. team with the addition of Trent Morse.

Prior to joining the firm, Morse worked in the Donald Trump administration as the White House liaison to the Department of Health and Human Services.

An ethics pledge required of Trump administration employees currently blocks Morse from lobbying the White House, though he plans to register once the pledge expires.

Before taking the liaison job, Morse worked as a senior policy adviser to the Deputy Secretary at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and as a Special Assistant at the U.S. Department of Transportation.

He also has Florida connections. He’s a Tampa native and double alum at Florida State University, where he earned his bachelor’s and law degrees. Before moving to Washington, he held jobs at the Florida Department of Transportation and in the Governor’s Office.

Morse is the firm’s second hire out of the Trump administration in recent weeks. The other addition was Hunter Morgen, who worked in the White House as a principal deputy to Peter Navarro and Stephen Miller, specializing in trade and immigration matters.

Ballard opened a Washington branch shortly after Trump was elected and it has quickly grown thanks to firm founder Brian Ballard’s close ties to the President — Ballard chaired the Trump Victory organization in Florida during the 2016 presidential election.

Ballard Partners’ growth at the federal level hasn’t been to the detriment of their Florida operation. Newly filed lobbying compensation reports show Ballard Partners was the top-earning firm in the state last year, collecting nearly $20 million in fees from its 200-plus clients.