Speaker: Jack Pandol | Deputy Executive Director | National Republican Congressional Committee

About Jack: Jack Pandol serves as Deputy Executive Director for the NRCC during the 2026 cycle where he oversees the paid media program. A native of Bakersfield, California, Pandol previously served as the Communications Director for the NRCC during the 2024 cycle in which House Republicans held the majority. Prior to that, Pandol served as Communications Director for the Senate Leadership Fund, the Western Regional Press Secretary for the NRCC, and as the top official and campaign communications staffer for three different Members of the House of Representatives: Charles Boustany (LA), Bradley Byrne (AL), and Rick Crawford (AR).

Speaker: Brendan Jaspers | Political Director | National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC)

About Brendan: Brendan is the Political Director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), where he drives strategy to elect a Republican Senate majority. Prior to this role, he served as Political Director of the Club for Growth, and as an advisor to President Trump’s now Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Doug Collins. Jaspers has managed winning campaigns, directed major independent expenditures, and overseen successful issue advocacy efforts in 44 states across all levels of government. He currently lives in Alexandria, VA with his wife, Mallory.

Speaker: Ben Brubeck | IEC Lobbyist | Government Affairs Solutions

About Ben: Ben Brubeck is the Principal and CEO of Government Affairs Solutions, LLC. Prior to joining GA Solutions, Brubeck spent more than 21 years in a variety of roles at the national headquarters of Associated Builders and Contractors, a 23,000-member construction industry trade association in Washington, D.C. Serving most recently as ABC’s vice-president of regulatory, labor and state affairs, Brubeck represented ABC before federal, state, and local lawmakers, regulators, the media, construction industry executives, and industry stakeholders.

Brubeck educates internal and external stakeholders and shapes policy on local, state, and federal issues important to the construction industry, with expertise across a portfolio of issues related to labor and employment, infrastructure, public-private partnerships, procurement, federal contractor regulations, small business, clean energy tax credits, CHIPS Act funding, OSHA, immigration, project labor agreements, prevailing wage, apprenticeship, and workforce development.

Before joining ABC’s executive leadership team, Brubeck mobilized the association’s labor and federal procurement, state affairs, business and labor relations, and grassroots efforts and programs in a variety of positions, while serving as a key contact for 67 ABC chapters on the policy issues of greatest importance to the organization.

Prior to joining ABC in 2003, Brubeck was the James A. Finnegan Foundation Fellow at the Pennsylvania House Appropriations Committee. Brubeck holds a B.A. in political science from Gettysburg College.

A Virginia resident and native of Connecticut, Brubeck is a board member of Brubeck Living Legacy, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting young jazz musicians and promoting awareness, interest, and the understanding of jazz and its role in American and international culture in honor of Ben’s grandfather, legendary pianist, composer, and statesman Dave Brubeck.

Speaker: Kristen Swearingen| Vice President of Government Affairs | Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC)

About Kristen: Kristen is the Vice President of Government Affairs at Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC). She had led the association’s lobbying efforts on Capitol Hill and coalition efforts in the business community since 2007. Swearingen chairs the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace, composed of hundreds of organizations representing millions of businesses that employ tens of millions of workers nationwide in nearly every industry.

Prior to joining ABC she was a staffer in the office of former Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.). She is a graduate of the College of Charleston.

Speaker: Matthew Keenan | Federal Affairs Liaison | Americans for Prosperity

About Matthew: Matthew Keenan is a federal affairs liaison with Americans for Prosperity. Previous staff to Representative Raul Labrador and Representative Russ Fulcher of Idaho. Spent almost six years on Capitol Hill and several years in the State Policy Network “think-tank” world in Idaho. Between state legislative policy and federal policy, he is a resident of Idaho and represents issues on AFP’s behalf in the transportation, energy, natural resources, and onshore federal land management policies in Washington, D.C. Married with one child.

Brody Mullins | Author & Investigative Reporter

About Brody: Brody Mullins is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter and author of The Wolves of K Street: The Secret History of How Big Money Took over Big Government.

The book, published by Simon & Schuster, is the definitive account of the rise of corporate power and lobbying in Washington. In two decades as an investigative reporter for The Wall Street Journal, Mullins wrote scores of ground-breaking stories about the intersection of business and politics, exposing scandals that prompted new laws and regulations for powerful government officials, lobbyists and Wall Street traders.

In addition to the Pulitzer Prize, Mullins won the George Polk Award and was twice awarded the Everett Dirksen Award for best coverage of Congress. Washingtonian calls him one of 50 best reporters in politics. He has appeared on Fox News, CNN, MSNBC and his work has appeared in The Washington Post, The New York Times, Vanity Fair, Politico and The Atlantic.

Brody is working on a second book, The Battle Over Bigness. He’s also writing a weekly column on politics and hosting the The Wolves of K Street Podcast.

Brody graduated from Northwestern University and lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife, two daughters and son.