Cant Keep Quiet!

Chances are you’ve heard of the K-Street project. It’s the place where Santorum meets with Lobbyists to discuss top job openings in the lobbying firms. The lobbying firms are then given “guidance” on who to pick to fill the position. The recommendations are always people who have proved to be loyal Republicans such as a top White House aide or a Congress person’s chief of staff.

It’s not at all uncommon for the former chief of staff to start lobbying the very same committee that their Republican House or Senate member belonged to or even chaired. It’s also not uncommon for this former chief of staff turn lobbyist to return to Congress as chief of staff, again often for a member or the chair of the committee he lobbied.

A prime example is Jeffrey S. Shockey. Shockey is currently a deputy chief of staff for the House Appropriations Committee. Prior to holding this position he was a partner for a lobbying firm. This firm lobbied the House Appropriations Committee. Shockey held that position for 5 years. Before his stint as a partner in a lobbying firm, Shockey worked for Representative Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.). Lewis is currently the Chair of the House Appropriations Committee. When Shockey worked for him his was a member of the same committee.

I used Shockey as an example because last year he collected nearly $2 million in severance payments from the lobbying firm he worked for prior to becoming the deputy chief of staff for the House Appropriations Committee. This payout is considered enormous even by Washington lobbyist standards. What’s more, Shockey collected the money not at the end of his time with the lobbying firm, nor during any down time before he went to work as a congressional aide. No, Shockey collected the money while working as a senior congressional aide.

It’s not uncommon for Lobbying firms to give employees going into public service a last gift to maintain strong ties. $2 million dollars, though, is far from the norm for these “gifts”. The money given to departing lobbyist tends to be nominal. It’s also strictly tied to past performance. This is done to avoid the gift taking on the appearance of an illegal activity. They illegal activity the lobbying firms want to avoid is having the funds look like a payoff to a federal official for favorable treatment.

So why did Shockey get so much money? A veteran lobbyist suggested

There would be no need to pay out that amount of money unless you needed to maintain a superlative relationship with that person after he leaves.

Once upon a time members of appropriation committees didn’t want to explicitly fund pet projects because they didn’t want to be accused of playing favorites. The Republican takeover in 1994 changed all that. With a new Republican majority came a new practice of channeling federal funds into programs that would help gain reelection for its GOP members. Earmarks were encouraged as a way to funnel billions of dollars to home-state projects to help woe the GOP members’ constituents. Lobbyists took advantage of this practice and became increasingly specialized in appropriations work.

The practice continued and grew and some members of Congress began to turn to lobbyist friends to help them decide which projects they should back. Lobbyists also began monitoring the progress of these projects through the legislative process for the congressional representative. Lobbyists “thanked” the congressmen for their support by way of campaign contributions.

The GOP’s current practice through the K-Street project has also created changes in the lobbyists themselves. Lobbyists used to be loyal to their employer and the groups and corporations their employer represented. Now many lobbyists are loyal Republicans. For the the GOP party comes first, even above their employer’s interests. This allows GOP leaders access to a large number of lobbyists, lawyers, public relations experts, and money to meet party goals.

The Center for Responsive Politics reports that over a decade ago political donations in key industries were evenly divided between the Republican and Democrat parties. Not so today. Now the Republican party has a two-to-one corporate cash advantage.

And these practices will continue to grow as long as congressional and White House aides leave to become lobbyist who then leave lobbying to become a congressional aide. Will Shockey’s large “severance” pay start becoming a habit? Los Angeles federal authorities took notice of the extremely close relationship between Lewis and Shockey’s former lobbying firm and have subpoenaed many of clients of the firm in an attempt to learn more about its relationship to Lewis. Shockey, though, has not been subpoenaed.

Many prominent Washington lobbyist, though, say that even if there is no conflict of interests, Shockey’s large “severance” package can still hold the appearance of a conflict of interest. Right now, that’s something lobbyists and congress don’t want. Especially with so many scandals already in the background.

Cross posted on Bring It On!