EBay expands Washington footprint with Harris alum

The e-commerce company eBay has added three new members to its government relations team, including a former adviser to Vice President Harris, the likely Democratic presidential nominee following the exit of President Biden on July 21.

EBay already has a robust government relations presence in Washington, spending nearly $1.9 million on federal lobbying last year, according to the nonpartisan money-in-politics tracking nonprofit OpenSecrets.

The company spent $530,000 on federal lobbying during the second quarter of this year, including work on a number of high-profile bills that would establish comprehensive federal data privacy rules, implement guardrails to curb the impact of social media on minors and crack down on organized retail crime and counterfeit product sales.

“eBay really was a pioneer in e-commerce,” Ashley Shillingsburg, head of Americas government relations for eBay, told The Hill. “A lot of people still view eBay as being very stuck in the past and don't realize how innovative we are.”

Shillingsburg, who said the vintage housewares and barware she sold on eBay helped her cobble together a down payment for a home when she worked on the Hill, described the team’s efforts “to make sure that as policymakers are looking at e-commerce policy they are thinking of small businesses and individual sellers.”

The newest members of the eBay government relations team — Danielle Decker, Casey Fitzpatrick and Justin Wilson — each bring their own expertise and experiences to the “well-rounded team” as they tackle these issues, Shillingsburg said.

Decker joined eBay this month as a senior manager of state government relations. She was previously director of intergovernmental affairs at the Commerce Department following a stint as Harris’s adviser on intergovernmental affairs and public engagement.

Commissioned as an officer in the Coast Guard this month, Decker also worked on Biden’s campaign and for the Democratic National Convention Committee during the 2020 election, according to her LinkedIn.

Fitzpatrick, eBay’s new senior manager for federal government relations, and Wilson, now manager of federal government relations for eBay, both registered to lobby for the online marketplace giant back in June.

Fitzpatrick, most recently chief of staff to Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-N.D.), will focus on judiciary issues including counterfeits and organized retail crime. 

A bill that would expand federal enforcement of criminal offenses related to organized retail crime is currently in the House Judiciary Committee, where Fitzpatrick’s former boss Armstrong is a member. The Combating Organized Retail Crime Act was one of the most frequently cited bills in eBay’s lobbying disclosures last year, according to OpenSecrets.

Wilson, who will focus on commerce issues including privacy, AI and consumer protection, was most recently focused on fully electric and autonomous vehicles as manager of federal affairs for Cruise. He was previously a director at the Raben Group, a public affairs firm.

“Our issues hit a lot of different committees in Congress, and we have to stay pretty nimble and the team is very diversified in order to help us do that,” Shillingsburg said.