A lobbying company is being sought by the Government to represent Bermuda’s interests in Washington.

A request for proposals notice was published in the Official Gazette yesterday, asking for bids from “qualified and experienced government relations and lobbying firms to engage decision makers on legislative and quasi-legislative actions”.

Interested bidders have until May 5 to make submissions to Major Marc Telemaque, the Cabinet Secretary, with the contract expected to be signed on June 1.

The move comes almost a decade after the Government, which has an office based in the US capital, said it would launch a competitive tendering process for lobbying services in DC.

In late 2017, a Washington firm called theGroup, led by a former senior political strategist for former US president Barack Obama, was revealed to have a $20,000-a-month lobbying contract with the Government.

The Cabinet Office said at the time that the contract was for three months and it would have a bidding process to find a company to provide “ongoing lobbying, communications and public relations services in Washington DC”.

TheGroup still held the $20,000-a-month contract, on a rolling basis, in March last year, according to a Cabinet Office public access to information disclosure made to The Royal Gazette.

The document showed that the ongoing contract, described as “month to month”, began on November 1, 2017.

The Gazette asked the Cabinet Office if a tender process was ever carried out in the intervening years, as well as questions about the new RFP, but has not yet had a response.

Yesterday’s Official Gazette notice said the chosen contractor would “serve as the conduit for communication with United States Congress officials and other agencies”.

It added: “The services required will include government political consulting, government relations and advocacy lobbying services etc in Washington DC, USA.

“ … The selected firm will be required to provide political consulting and lobbying services to advance legislative objectives in the United States Congress and improve relationships with the Government of Bermuda and officials of the United States Congress and other relevant organisations in the United States of America.”

The notice included a 27-page document detailing the tender process, as well as a “form of agreement” which stated that the successful consultant's work would fall under the Foreign Agents Registration Act in the US and the “written contract embodying the relationship between Bermuda and consultant is expected to be filed publicly with the United States Department of Justice”.

As well as using lobbyists in DC, the Government has its own office, at Liberty Place on 325 7th Street NW, which is run by director Anthony Howell.

The Pati disclosure in March 2025 showed that Mr Howell was paid $11,084 a month, including a $3,167 housing allowance.

The 2026-27 Government Budget allocated $487,000 overall for the Washington Office this financial year, with $234,000 for rent.

TheGroup was the highest-paid Cabinet Office contractor, according to last year’s Pati disclosure.

Its founder and chairman, Art Collins, served as a senior political strategist for the Obama 2008 presidential campaign, before becoming a public liaison for the Obama-Biden Transition Project to the White House after Mr Obama’s inauguration.

Another company led by Mr Collins, Public Private Partnership Inc, was previously linked to Bermuda after The Times of London reported that it came up with the idea to resettle four Guantánamo Bay detainees on the island.

Mr Collins was photographed with the ethnic Uighur men from China, when they landed on the tarmac at LF Wade International Airport on June 11, 2009.

He was described at the time by US political website The Hill as a lobbyist for Bermuda’s government.