(The Associated Press circulated the following article on September 12.)
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — The Mayo Clinic has tapped a former top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney and a former Democratic congressional leadership staffer to help it lobby against an expansion plan by the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad, federal reports show.
Mayo has enlisted the Washington law firm of Manatt Phelps & Phillips, which lists among its lobbyists on DM&E Dean McGrath, who worked as Cheney’s deputy chief of staff; and James Datri, the former executive director of the House Democratic Caucus.
The clinic is lobbying against a $2.3 billion federal loan application that DM&E has pending with the Federal Railroad Administration to help pay for the expansion.
Mayo argues that the increased flow of higher-speed trains through Rochester, where the clinic is based, would increase the risk of accidents and put its patients in danger.