LegiStorm

Democrats led the House in 2021 office spending, according to LegiStorm data.

Of the 11 representatives who spent more than 97 percent of their official budgets, 10 were Democrats.

Rep. David Trone (D-Md.) topped the charts, with his office spending more than 98.7 percent of its annual allowance. Of his total budget, 87.5 percent went toward paying his staff, compared to a House average of 69.0 percent.

Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.), the next highest spender, put 82.8 percent of his budget toward staffer pay.

Democratic Reps. Seth Moulton (Mass.), Anna Eshoo (Calif.), Peter DeFazio (Ore.), Dutch Ruppersberger (Md.), Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.), Elissa Slotkin (Mich.), Ann Kuster (N.H.) and Betty McCollum (Minn.), as well as Republican Mike Simpson (Idaho), also each spent more than 97.0 percent of their office budgets.

Democrats also spent more on average, with 87.1 percent of their budgets used. GOP members averaged 85.2 percent.

With about 62.1 percent spent, Rep. Jim Baird (R-Ind.) disclosed the smallest expenses of any office. It's the norm for congressional offices to report some expenses after the year is over, and Baird's office was late on reporting expenses for more than 13 percent of his 2020 budget.

Any unused funds are returned to the Department of the Treasury.

One of Sen. Thom Tillis's (R-N.C.) first Hill hires has left for Gilead Sciences.

Bill Bode joined the biopharmaceutical giant this month as director of government affairs. Gilead pumped nearly $8.2 million into its federal lobbying program last year. That makes it the country's eighth largest pharmaceutical lobbying group, according to OpenSecrets.

Bode started in Tillis's office as a legislative correspondent shortly after the senator took office in 2015 and worked his way up to become a senior policy adviser. He is concurrently working and pursuing a law degree at American University's Washington College of Law.

House staffers ended 2021 with the highest holiday bonuses of any non-election year in at least two decades, according to LegiStorm estimates.

House staffers working for member offices received 22.5 percent more money in the fourth quarter than in previous quarters - a bonus of nearly $3,800 per staffer.

In 2019 and 2017, staffers received a fourth-quarter bump of 19.2 percent and 19.5 percent, respectively. End-of-year bonuses are typically lower in non-election years.

Although GOP representatives tend to give much higher end-of-year bonuses than their Democratic counterparts, the parties narrowed the usual gap in 2021. Republicans averaged 23.0 percent more in the fourth quarter, while Democrats averaged 22.0 percent more. That's a partisan difference of only $160 more for the average Republican staffer than the average Democratic staffer. 2019 saw $350 more for the average Republican.

Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) topped the charts with an average Q4 pay of 115.6 percent more than his staff had made in each of year's the previous quarters. Aides to Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) got the second-highest increase, at 80.0 percent per staffer.

Members don't explicitly report bonuses in their quarterly expense reports. To estimate bonuses, LegiStorm compares average quarterly salaries to find payment increases.

One of Rep. Kathleen Rice's (D-N.Y.) first congressional hires has made his way to the renewable-energy sector.

Steven Coyle joined the American Clean Power Association as federal-affairs director. The ACPA spent just north of $1.9 million on its federal lobbying program in 2021. The Energy Storage Association, recently acquired by the ACPA, disclosed another $80,000 on lobbying last year.

Coyle had worked for Rice since the congresswoman took office in 2015 and left the office as a legislative assistant. Rice, who sits on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, is not running for reelection this year.

Former Rep. Martha Roby (R-Ala.) has registered as a first-time lobbyist. She's working on behalf of the energy industry.

Roby is lobbying for Enviva, which produces wood pellets to be burned as fuel and bills itself as an alternative to coal. She's part of a team at law firm Bradley representing the energy company on unspecified energy, budget, manufacturing and fuel issues affecting the wood-pellet industry.

Bradley signed Enviva in January, according to a recent disclosure. Roby joined the law firm last April as a senior adviser for governmental affairs and economic development. Roby retired from Congress at the end of last term, making her newly eligible to lobby the House under ethics rules.