Attention Congressional Users!

Knowing the latest organizations to hire lobbyists can keep you on the pulse of what's happening in Washington. It may even prepare you for Nazis storming the Capitol.

LegiStorm is now showing the newest lobbying registrations for our LegiStorm Pro subscribers on the Pro home page. The recent lobbying registrations are the newest addition to our information dashboard for Pro users, which already includes the newest staffing moves on Capitol Hill, additions to the revolving door, personal financial disclosures we've added and the latest trips taken by members of Congress and their staff.

The registrations sometimes turn up surprises. A few days ago, LegiStorm spotted a new registration for the American Nazi Party, which is concerned with "political rights and ballot access laws," according to the filing. We provided our discovery to U.S. News and World Report, and their report generated many headlines.

Rep. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) will be refunding the meals provided to a friend who he brought along on a recent trip to a luxury Sea Island, Ga. resort, he told The Washington Post.

The $371 excess payment for the meals of Zee Patel - buyer and general manager for the Bits of Lace lingerie store - came during a trip financed by the American Enterprise Institute. House rules allow travelers to bring a guest, but only one. The unmarried Scott also brought his mother. Scott told The Post that he had intended to pay back the funds but was waiting on an invoice from AEI.

The congressman described Patel as a "family friend".

Members of Congress have earmarked at least $3.11 billion since 2007 for organizations connected to them or their family members - such as clients, employers or alma maters. 

That's one number that emerges from a ground-breaking database LegiStorm has compiled of family ties of members of Congress, built on an exhaustive report by the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). The work highlights the intersection of the public work of members of Congress with their private interests. The full CREW report can be found at http://www.citizensforethics.org/familyaffair.

CREW explored a range of family ties, including: Family members on the campaign or official payroll; lawmakers directing earmarks to family members' groups; lobbyists trading on their family connections to Capitol Hill. 

Traditional fourth-quarter staff bonuses plummeted in the House of Representatives as budget cuts have taken their toll.

The average congressional aide earned a 3.6% salary increase in the fourth quarter of 2011, an almost two-thirds drop from last year's rate and nearly half the previous low since LegiStorm started tracking salaries in 2000.

LegiStorm added the House's 2011 fourth quarter salaries to our site today following yesterday's release by the House of Representatives. The new data allowed us to take our first look at the bonus habits of the 112th Congress. Many Republican members of Congress were swept to power on promises to cut spending, and the House imposed cuts to the amount that members could spend. Overall spending and bonuses were both down compared to previous years.

Four former congressional aides popped the question on Valentine's Day: whether to become first-time lobbyists. The answer was yes, according to their new lobbying filings.

These newest members of the revolving door were first available to LegiStorm Pro subscribers through a new feature LegiStorm introduced this week. 

On the LegiStorm Pro home page, subscribers to our premium Pro product will see the most recent additions to our revolving door list of D.C. insiders who have worked on Capitol Hill and lobbied on K Street. In addition, LegiStorm will continue to highlight revolving door connections in our daily Caught Our Eye feature.