The "super committee" is certain to take a hard look at defense spending, and several former staffers to Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) may be contacting their old boss on behalf of defense contractors to make sure the cuts aren't too deep.
Murray is co-chair of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, as the super committee is officially known. As the senior senator from Boeing's home state, she is no stranger to defense spending. Last year, she added $57 million in earmarks to the defense appropriations bill, and the Seattle Times found that $19.5 million of those earmarks went to companies which had hired her former aides as lobbyists.
The Times story identified 17 former Murray staffers who had moved into lobbying. LegiStorm's database of revolving door connections is more powerful than databases previously available so we have found at least 29 Murray staffers who have gone through the revolving door, 26 of which worked in her personal office.
Update (10/19/2011, 5:15 p.m.): Since this original posting we have found revolving door connections for an additional three former staffers, bringing the total to 32 people who have worked under Murray and have also lobbied, including 29 who have worked in her personal office.
A prominent revolving door move from Murray's office came earlier this year, when her chief of staff Jeff Bjornstad left Capitol Hill to take a job as a lobbyist for Washington2 Advocates, where his clients have included several energy companies, as well as Boeing Co.
Murray's previous chief of staff, Rick Desimone, also moved to K Street from Murray's office. He joined McBee Strategic Consulting in 2006, where his clients include defense contractors such as Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics, in addition to Boeing. Another former Murray aide, Carrie Desmond, is now a lobbyist for Lockheed Martin.
LegiStorm is profiling the revolving door ties of all 12 members of the super committee over the next three weeks. Earlier this week we looked at Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) and Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.).
