Tech companies are expecting a wave of scrutiny from Democrats for the industry's ties with the Trump administration when they take over Congress in January. In anticipation, many are hiring former Democratic lawmakers and aides to make their case to the incoming House and Senate majorities.
Among the latest to make that move is Palantir, which has hired former Sen. Jon Tester, a colorful Montana Democrat who's also an organic farmer.
"My agreement with Palantir is advisory in nature, it is not lobbying," Tester, who lost reelection to the Senate in 2024, told NPR in an interview.
The secretive American software and artificial intelligence company has drawn the ire of Democrats in Congress during President Trump's second term. Palantir — named by billionaire founder Peter Theil after the mythical "seeing stone" from J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings — has been accused of abetting mass surveillance on Americans and immigrants.
