LegiStorm

A Senate adviser has decamped to Waxman Strategies, former Rep. Henry Waxman's (D-Calif.) firm.

Jackson Thein is now a director at the lobbying and communications group. The Clean Air Task Force, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and Electrify America make up Waxman Strategies' biggest federal lobbying clients by revenue. Henry Waxman has run the lobbying shop since retiring from Congress in 2015.

Thein was most recently Sen. Jeff Merkley's (D-Ore.) policy adviser on health, education, nutrition and LGBTQ issues.

Former Rep. Steve Watkins (R-Kan.), who lost re-election thanks to three felony charges, has registered as a first-time federal lobbyist.

Watkins is lobbying on behalf of Radia Inc., a low-profile Colorado-based company doing business in renewable energy and aviation. He is working through Huxley Rock, the one-man shop that he founded after leaving office. Per a recent filing, his lobbying work began last month and focuses on Federal Aviation Administration aircraft-certification issues.

Watkins was charged with three counts of felony voter fraud in 2020, during his first term in office. He lost his primary bid that year and later accepted a diversion plea that allowed him to avoid a criminal record.

In Congress, Watkins served on the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Veterans' Affairs Committee.

A staffer to Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) has traded the Hill for a Koch brothers' lobbying group.

Daniel Tillson joined Americans for Prosperity this month as a federal liaison. The influential right-wing advocacy group, which serves as the primary lobbying outfit to funders David and Charles Koch, disclosed spending about $1.5 million on its federal lobbying program in the last year.

Tillson was most recently a legislative assistant handling Wicker's foreign affairs and homeland security portfolio. Wicker is ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Rep. George Santos' (R-N.Y.) new press secretary is the niece of Woody Johnson, billionaire Republican donor and former Trump ambassador to the United Kingdom.

Noelle Young worked as a production associate at Fox Business before joining Santos' office. This is her first job on the Hill.

Johnson & Johnson heir Woody Johnson married into Young's family in 2009. Johnson served as ambassador to the U.K. for most of Donald Trump's presidency and is a major donor to the Republican Party. He and his brother co-own the New York Jets football team. Suzanne Ircha Johnson, Woody's wife and Young's aunt by blood, is reportedly one of Melania Trump's closest friends.

Nearly a dozen representatives have missed this year's filing deadline for personal financial disclosures.

Personal financial disclosures provide the public with important information about members' assets, debts and potential conflicts of interest. Members' annual reports are due on May 15 each year. Members have the option to file for an extension that allows them to delay their filings until up to Aug. 13 for representatives and Aug. 14 for senators.

According to a LegiStorm review of House Clerk's Office data, eleven members have yet to file their annual disclosures this year: Reps. Kelly Armstrong (R-N.D.), Ami Bera (D-Calif.), Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas), Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), John Rose (R-Tenn.), George Santos (R-N.Y.), Shri Thanedar (D-Mich.), Dina Titus (D-Nev.) and Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), as well as Del. Stacey Plaskett (D-Virgin Islands).

Except for Bera and Plaskett, each of those members filed for an extension in May. The Clerk's Office has published neither an annual report nor a letter of extension for Bera nor Plaskett this year.

It's not uncommon for members to file for an extension - 45 senators and 241 representatives did so this year. Members are subject to a $200 fine for filing their report more than 30 days after the original or extended deadline, per House and Senate Ethics rules.

Last year, then-Rep. Peter Meijer (R-Mich.) was the last member to file his disclosure, doing so three days before his term's end. Another, then-Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas), does not appear to have filed an annual report that year at all.

Nine representatives have filed reports since Aug. 13. All senators filed their reports before the Senate's Aug. 14 extended due date.