LegiStorm

A Republican House staffer has moved to Amazon Web Services's government-affairs and public-policy team.

Jon Ferro is now a public-policy specialist for the cloud-computing giant. Amazon and its subsidiaries, including AWS, spent more than $19.3 million on federal lobbying last year, according to Open Secrets.

Ferro comes from the House Homeland Security Committee, where he was deputy general counsel under ranking member John Katko (R-N.Y.). He's also worked for then-Reps. Doug Collins (R-Ga.) and Dan Donovan (R-N.Y.).

Spotify has added a longtime Senate Judiciary staffer to its D.C. team, just as some members of Congress call for the streaming giant to face the music over part of its artist-royalty structure.

Scott Wilson, now a Spotify director for government affairs, comes from the Judiciary Committee's Intellectual Property Subcommittee. He was a senior adviser under subcommittee Chair Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.). Wilson has also worked for the full committee, for Leahy's personal office and for Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.).

Last summer, the House Judiciary Committee probed the streaming giant over its Discovery Mode feature, which reportedly allows artists to trade higher streaming priority for certain songs in exchange for reduced royalty rates. Several Democratic representatives renewed their criticism over the feature last month, labeling Discovery Mode as a "troubling move ... that sacrifices honesty in the name of profit."

Many members have spent time working as staffers before their election to Congress. But a handful of members just can't stay away from Congress, taking jobs as staffers after their terms have come to an end.

Former Rep. Denver Riggleman (R-Va.) recently left his position as a top staffer on the House's Jan. 6 Committee, where he'd been a senior technical adviser since August. Riggleman, who's joining a nonprofit working with Ukraine, left Congress at the end of last term after losing his 2020 primary bid.

Riggleman leaves behind two fellow ex-members who are still working as staffers: Former Rep. Ron Barber (D-Ariz.) is a regional director for Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), while former Rep. Van Hilleary (R-Tenn.) serves as Rep. John Rose's (R-Tenn.) chief of staff.

In the last 20 years, only a handful of other members have worked as congressional staff after their time in office:

• Former Sen. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) briefly served as a special adviser to then-Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.).
• Former Rep. Rod Grams (R-Minn.) served as interim chief of staff and then part-time adviser to then-Rep. Chip Cravaack (R-Minn.).
• Former Rep. Herb Klein (D-N.J.) served as Sen. Chuck Schumer's (D-N.Y.) communications director.

Others, including former Reps. Judy Biggert (D-Ill.) and Doc Hastings (R-Wash.), have gone on to serve on the House Office of Congressional Ethics board.

A veteran lobbyist-turned-Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.) staffer has returned to the government-affairs world.

Jayne Fitzgerald is now a government-relations director at the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors. The trade group spent $1.7 million on its federal lobbying program in the last year and is also active at the state level.

She was most recently economic policy adviser to Pascrell, who sits on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee. Fitzgerald has also worked as a registered lobbyist at Akin Gump, among other lobbying groups, and is an alum of the House Ways and Means Committee.

A K Street defense lobbyist has moved to Senate Armed Services Committee Republicans.

Kristina Belcourt comes from Potomac Advocates, where she was principal consultant. There, she lobbied on behalf of a number of heavy-hitting defense contractors, including BAE Systems and General Dynamics.

Belcourt, who served in the U.S. Air Force before transitioning to her current role with the Virginia Air National Guard, is now a professional staff member under SASC Republicans and the party's staff lead on the Airland Subcommittee.