AxAdvocacy Grows Leadership Team with Addition of Giancarlo Brizzi as Senior Advisor

AxAdvocacy Grows Leadership Team with Addition of Giancarlo Brizzi as Senior Advisor  

WASHINGTON - AxAdvocacy is pleased to announce the addition of Giancarlo Brizzi as a Senior Advisor to our industry-leading government relations team. With nearly three decades of experience spanning both public and private sectors, Brizzi will be an integral part of AxAdvocacy’s team, driving strategic initiatives and delivering impactful results for our clients in today’s complex policy landscape.  

“We are delighted to add Giancarlo to our team of subject matter experts at AxAdvocacy, lending our clients first class knowledge in solving complex issues and setting a new standard of government relations service,” said Ashlee Rich Stephenson, president of AxAdvocacy. “As we build our team and practice, we will continue to add battle tested leaders like Giancarlo to our roster, offering current and future clients the best counsel available in Washington and the states.” 

Brizzi’s extensive experience will be particularly valuable as AxAdvocacy continues to expand its work with General Services Administration (GSA)-related matters. 

“Our wide-ranging portfolio of clients with General Services Administration (GSA) related issues is rapidly expanding, and our clients require real expertise to navigate in order to be effective,” said Bobby Babcock, principal of AxAdvocacy and former GSA Regional Administrator (2018-2020). “I’ve worked closely with Giancarlo Brizzi for several years, and can speak with certainty that his addition to our team puts AxAdvocacy in a category of itself and understanding of the inner workings of the GSA.” 

Brizzi added “The level of knowledge and strategic capabilities demonstrated by Bobby Babcock and the AxAdvocacy team are exceptional. I am thrilled to join AxAdvocacy for the next phase of my career and help grow the portfolio of GSA related clients.” 

Brizzi’s addition underscores AxAdvocacy’s commitment to providing top-tier government relations services, ensuring clients receive the highest level of expertise and strategic guidance. 

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About Giancarlo Brizzi 


Giancarlo Brizzi most recently served as the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) Public Buildings Service (PBS) Regional Commissioner – Greater Southwest Region, overseeing a team of more than 500 employees and managing real property operations across Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. He was responsible for an extensive portfolio of over 1,500 assets and 35 million square feet, leading efforts in portfolio management, capital construction, operations and maintenance, leasing, and disposal of federal office space, U.S. courthouses, land ports of entry, laboratories, clinics, and warehouses. 

Prior to this role, Giancarlo served as the Principal Deputy Associate Administrator in the GSA Office of Government-wide Policy, where he led initiatives to develop cost-effective policies and practices across federal agencies. His areas of focus included acquisition, real and personal property, travel and transportation, evidence and evaluation, data analytics, and information technology. During his tenure at GSA, he held multiple executive roles, including Chief of Staff, Regional Administrator, Associate Administrator for Government-wide Policy, and Chief Operating Officer for the Technology Transformation Service. 

Earlier in his career, Giancarlo worked at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, where he held several roles, most notably as Director of the Office of Financial Management for the Departmental Offices (Treasury Headquarters). In this role, he managed a large team overseeing budget policy, financial reporting and controls, and resource management. 

Giancarlo began his career as a management consultant, advising large federal agencies on financial management operations. He is also a veteran of the Army National Guard, having served as an infantry officer with deployments to both Afghanistan and Iraq. 

He holds a Master of Business Administration and a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech). 

AxIndex, Edition 21

By Bob Salera • October 20, 2026
SNAPSHOT

The Morning After: Why Post-Election Planning Starts Now

By Sarah Williams • October 15, 2026
The Morning After: Why Post-Election Planning Starts Now With less than three weeks until Election Day, nearly all the attention is on who will win. For organizations with business before government, the better question is what they will do the morning after. November 3 will reset the cast of characters, shift the leverage, and open one of the most compressed legislative windows of the year. The organizations that come out ahead will be the ones that planned for every outcome before the votes were counted. A Five-Week Sprint The current continuing resolution funds the government through December 11, leaving a lame-duck Congress about five weeks to deal with FY27 spending, the NDAA, a possible third reconciliation package, and expiring programs from surface transportation to healthcare. Many of those decisions will be made by members who just won, just lost, or are about to hand over the gavel. And as Bob Salera noted in his recent look at polling error , today's polling leads are provisional, so the smart move is to plan for every scenario, not just the forecast. What to Do Now The next three weeks are the best time an organization will have to prepare. Once results are in, every company, association, and coalition will be chasing the same new offices with the same requests. Get in front of new members early. Identify the candidates in open seats and competitive races who will matter to your issues, and be ready to reach out the day after the election with information about what you mean to their district. Those who show up early become trusted resources. Those who show up in February with an ask become one more meeting request. Know the new decision makers. New offices hire chiefs of staff and legislative directors between November and January, and retirements will open committee chairs no matter who wins. Know who is coming, who is next in line, and where they stand on your issues. Shape the narrative before someone else does. New members form their views quickly, often from what they read and hear at home. Have your story ready for local press, op-ed pages, and the trade outlets new staff will be reading in their first weeks. Bring local voices . Map your footprint in every district and state that matters, from employees and facilities to customers and community partners. A constituent in the room carries more weight than any one-pager. Line up your allies. Coalition partners, local leaders, and third-party validators who can carry your message matter even more with lawmakers who do not know you yet. Lock in your lame-duck asks. If your priority could ride on a funding bill, the NDAA, or an extender package, it needs to be drafted, socialized, and backed by allies before Congress returns. Be ready on day one. Prepare statements for every outcome, a briefing package built for new offices, and digital content ready to deploy the moment results are in. Don't Forget the States Thirty-six governorships and most state legislative chambers are on the ballot. New governors start building transition teams within days, and many legislatures convene in January. Every capital where you do business needs the same plan: relationships with incoming leaders and a message built for them. The Bottom Line Election Day ends the campaign, not the work. The relationships and narratives that will decide your issues in 2027 are taking shape now. At AxAdvocacy, we pair federal and state government relations with integrated public affairs campaigns, so our clients are in the room and in the conversation on day one.

Polling Error Is the Wild Card Heading Into November

By Bob Salera • October 6, 2026
Polling Error Is the Wild Card Heading Into November With four weeks until Election Day, Democrats are enjoying some of the most favorable polling they have seen in years. The question for anyone planning around November's results is a simple one: are the polls right? Recent history says that is far from guaranteed. In each of the last three election cycles, polls have missed in the same direction, and that direction has been toward Democrats. Three cycles, one direction Nate Silver's Silver Bulletin tracks the average statistical bias in polls taken during the final three weeks of each election cycle. The pattern since 2019 is hard to miss: • 2019-2020: polls overstated Democrats by 4.7 points across all offices • 2021-2022: polls overstated Democrats by 0.8 points • 2023-2024: polls overstated Democrats by 2.9 points  Averaged together, that is a 2.8-point miss in Democrats' favor.

AxIndex, Edition 20

October 6, 2026
SNAPSHOT

AxIndex, Edition 19

September 22, 2026
SNAPSHOT

State of Play: The Post-Recess Congressional Outlook

By Caleb Franz • September 10, 2026
The Post-Recess Congressional Outlook Congress returned from its five-week August recess and sent a bill to the President to fund the government through December 11, but the major fiscal and policy fights remain unresolved. That makes the CR a ceasefire, not a resolution — the fight over spending and policy is still ahead. The Clock The calendar is shrinking by the week. The House returned August 31, then canceled its remaining two full work weeks in September, leaving a single four-day session (September 14-17) before members leave for the campaign trail. The Senate has a bit more time, scheduled to stay in session through October 2. The September 30 fiscal-year deadline is no longer the immediate deadline because the CR extends funding through December 11. Neither chamber has the runway to finish the remaining major legislative agenda items before Election Day. The likely outcome is that decisions on government funding beyond December 11, the FY27 National Defense Authorization Act, and the fate of a third reconciliation package extend into the lame-duck session - decided by a Congress that may look different than the one sitting today. Appropriations & NDAA Appropriations and NDAA are traditional must-pass priorities. Reconciliation is optional. Appropriations remain the most immediate pressure point, and the December 11 deadline only buys time on the FY27 spending bills. All twelve have cleared the House Appropriations Committee, but only three have passed the full floor, and the Senate hasn't reported a single one out of committee. That disparity reflects the two chambers' unresolved fight over topline defense and non-defense spending levels. Absent a herculean effort by the leadership of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, passing any of the outstanding bills across both chambers by year's end is unlikely, and another stopgap will likely be necessary. After six decades of annual enactment, the odds are in favor of Congress ultimately producing an NDAA. The House passed its version in July by a narrow margin, authorizing roughly $250 billion more in defense spending than FY26 levels. The Senate's version is still pending, stalled since a failed July cloture vote, and even once it passes, a conference committee still has to reconcile the two chambers' different versions before anything reaches the President's desk. NDAA hasn't been signed into law before December in any of the last several cycles; last year's version wasn't signed until December 18, and this year is tracking the same way. With no official Senate passed product, the two chambers will begin informal conference discussions in earnest after the Congress officially breaks for the election season. Reconciliation 3.0 Reconciliation is the one item on this list Congress does not have to touch. Republicans already used the process once this year, passing a second reconciliation bill in June that provided roughly $70 billion in funding for ICE and CBP. A third package, built around Iran war funding, agricultural aid, and provisions tied to Republicans' election-law priorities, cleared the House in July, but the Senate has not advanced it. Majority Leader Thune has said he'd rather hold the framework in reserve as leverage for the funding fight than spend it on a standalone package before the election. Its prospects are likely to depend in significant part on how the funding negotiations develop as well as the election outcome. If one or both Chambers flip, look for Republicans to revisit reconciliation efforts as a last-ditch effort to provide funding to the Administration for key priorities prior to the new Congress. What the Election Changes The election will determine how much leverage each side has during the lame-duck period. With the election on November 3 and the CR expiring December 11, the lame-duck Congress would have roughly five weeks to resolve the next round of government funding. If Republicans retain both chambers, they can continue pursuing their legislative agenda, but the incentive to complete major priorities before the new Congress takes office would still depend on the size of their margins and the remaining legislative calendar. If Democrats win either chamber, the outgoing GOP majority faces greater pressure to resolve outstanding priorities before the new Congress takes office, when the balance of power could shift. That could create a final push to lock in NDAA authorization levels and take another run at reconciliation before new members take office in January. The Bottom Line The next sixty days matter more than the usual pre-election lull suggests. The major open questions: the FY27 spending bills, NDAA authorization levels, and whether Republicans pursue a third reconciliation bill, remain unresolved. Organizations with a stake in any of these three fights have a narrower window than usual to get specific asks attached before that happens, and that window closes well before Congress reconvenes in January.