Revolving Door

Byron Tau at The Wall Street Journal:

Republican Rep. Dana Rohrabacher is weighing the creation of a consulting firm when he leaves government after being ousted by voters in last month’s midterm elections.

Mr. Rohrabacher, who has represented a California district in Congress for three decades, has told senior staff and other acquaintances in recent weeks that he plans to form a company called R&B Strategies with top aide Paul Behrends, according to people familiar with the matter.

A spokesman for Mr. Rohrabacher, who represents Orange County, said the lawmaker hasn’t decided what he will do, but the spokesman didn’t deny the conversations and said forming a company is one of many options the congressman is considering.

The spokesman, Ken Grubbs, said Mr. Rohrabacher’s only definite plans are to move to Maine after the current session of Congress ends in early January and newly elected lawmakers are sworn in.

Mr. Rohrabacher is one of the many lawmakers expected to go to work in lobbying or consulting when they leave government in January. Dozens of Republicans retired or lost their seats this year, making for a crowded post-government employment market for many lawmakers.

Philip Wegmann at The Washington Examiner:

Rep. Lynn Jenkins, R-Kan., is leaving Congress, but she's not going very far. She is cashing out and turning to lobbying after a decade in Congress.

Unfortunately, this isn’t unusual: the career arc of many a politician runs from Capitol Hill through K Street. The difference is Jenkins isn’t waiting around. She announced the opening of her own lobbying shop with six weeks left as representative for the 2nd Congressional District of Kansas.

This gives Jenkins time to attract potential clientele during while still voting on issues of import.

Ethics laws prohibit Jenkins from making lobbying contacts for a year after leaving office. But she can still run a lobbying shop and supervise and employ lobbyists.

“This is an egregious abuse of the revolving door,” Craig Holman of Public Citizen told McClatchy, “I suspect she’s being coached as to how to dance around the law, but it certainly violates the spirit of the revolving door law itself.”