Palantir, the data analytics company whose software powers the Trump administration's deportation operations, has hired a former Democratic senator and a team of Democratic lobbyists with close ties to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, adding to a growing roster of Democrat-connected operatives the company has brought on in recent months.
The company registered Avoq LLC as a lobbying firm effective May 1, according to a disclosure signed on June 15. The four-person team representing Palantir is led by firm partner Steve Elmendorf, one of the top fundraisers for congressional Democrats, who has raised hundreds of thousands of bundled campaign dollars for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, including hosting DCCC fundraisers featuring Jeffries as a speaker. Elmendorf co-founded Avoq and previously served as chief of staff to former Democratic Leader Dick Gephardt.
Joining Elmendorf is Cedric Grant, who served as Jeffries’ first chief of staff in the House, before joining Avoq, where he specializes in outreach to House Democratic Leadership and the Congressional Black Caucus, according to his firm bio. Like Elmendorf, Grant is also a campaign contribution bundler and fundraiser host for the DCCC. Also working for Palantir on the Avoq team are Keith Castaldo, a former general counsel to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), and Joseph Orlando, a former staffer for Democratic Reps. Frank Pallone and Jan Schakowsky, and another bundler for the House Democrats’ campaign group.
The firm was retained to lobby on "government programs supported by commercial technology,” according to the registration, under the issue areas of science and technology.
Also this month, Palantir added former Democratic Sen. Mark Begich of Alaska to its lobbying roster through Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, per a June 8 filing. Begich, who represented Alaska in the Senate from 2009 to 2015, is registered to lobby on "government programs related to artificial intelligence."
Palantir holds a contract worth more than $150 million with ICE to operate its Investigative Case Management system, the core platform behind its deportation operations. An April 2025 modification to that contract added nearly $30 million for building ImmigrationOS, an AI platform that manages deportation targets from initial identification through removal. In May 2026, Palantir received an additional $86 million order from ICE for "enforcement removal operations modernization and operational capabilities."
The Democratic lobbying push comes as Palantir-tied campaign money has become increasingly toxic in Democratic politics. Democratic lawmakers including Reps. Jason Crow, Pat Ryan, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Sen. John Hickenlooper, and Rep. Seth Moulton have recently returned, rejected, or redirected Palantir-related campaign contributions amid a growing activist backlash.
The Avoq and Begich hires follow a similar move in February, when Palantir brought on Democrat-linked lobbyists Cristina Antelo and Debra Dixon of bipartisan firm Ferox Strategies. Antelo, who founded Ferox after eight years at the Podesta Group, sits on the advisory council of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute alongside dozens of Democratic members of Congress. Dixon spent roughly nine years as chief of staff to Rep. Xavier Becerra, a former Democratic congressman who recently advanced to the general election to be California’s next governor. Antelo said at the time of the hiring that the firm wanted to ensure Democratic members had more information about Palantir and could push back on what she characterized as an inaccurate narrative.
As Sludge has previously reported, lobbyists at two other lobbying firms employed by Palantir—Invariant and Brownstein—have bundled millions in campaign contributions for the DCCC and DSCC in recent years, even as progressive activists have increasingly targeted Palantir over its ICE surveillance tools.
Palantir has gone from spending less than $3 million on federal lobbying in 2023 to spending more than $6 million last year, according to OpenSecrets.
Avoq did not respond to a request for comment.
