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Caught Our Eye items are posted daily. LegiStorm Pro subscribers have access to all posts a few hours before other users, and are also able to search the full Caught Our Eye archive. Log in as a LegiStorm Pro user or learn more about subscribing.

Senate Republicans suffered worse staff retention rates last year

Posted by Keturah Hetrick on Jan. 8, 2024

Senate Republicans are having a harder time retaining staff than their Democratic counterparts.

Compared to Democrats, Republican personal offices averaged 14% higher staff turnover in FY2023, according to a new LegiStorm analysis of Senate salary data from October 2022-September 2023.

Republicans also made up nine of the top 10 member offices with the highest turnover. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), whose office yielded the highest rates, lost staffer at double the chamber's average.

Sens. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), John Neely Kennedy (R-La.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) rounded out the chamber's highest staff departure, with rates at least 68% above average.

Though Senate Democrats have historically higher turnover rates than Republicans, the GOP's personal-office turnover grew by 33% from FY2022-FY2023. Senate Democrats' turnover decreased by 14% during that period.

High turnover doesn't necessarily indicate that an individual member is difficult to work for. But over time, consistently poor staff retention can result in lower productivity and effectiveness and may indicate a workplace that staffers wish to avoid.

LegiStorm's staff turnover index is salary-weighted, meaning that the departure of a higher-paid staffer, such as a chief of staff, will count proportionately more than a staff assistant or other lower-paid staffer. LegiStorm considers only full-time, non-temporary staff and excludes all interns and fellows.

Opportunity calls for Cammack staffer

Posted by Andy Gottlieb on Jan. 2, 2024

A veteran Hill staffer has departed for the U.S. Telecom Association.

Ben Elleson is now senior director of government affairs at the trade group. He most recently served as a senior policy adviser for Rep. Kat Cammack (R-Fla.). He previously worked for over 11 years for Rep. Billy Long (R-Mo.), including as his deputy chief of staff and legislative director.

The U.S. Telecom Association, currently branded as USTelecom, has a long and sustained presence on Capitol Hill. It was founded in 1897 as the Independent Telephone Association of America. In 2022, the last full year for which records are available, the U.S. Telecom Association spent $2.73 million on federal lobbying. 

Energy lobbyist returns to the Hill

Posted by Andy Gottlieb on Dec. 18, 2023

Rep. Blake Moore (R-Utah) has a new legislative director.

Rebekah Rodriguez is back on Capitol Hill this month after over a year as the director of federal affairs for the bipartisan lobbying outfit Boundary Stone Partners. Rodriguez lobbied on behalf of a variety of energy companies, with a focus on carbon removal and capture technology, hydrogen power and the implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, among other issues.

Rodriguez previously worked for Rep. John Curtis (R-Utah) and the House Natural Resources Committee. She also served as deputy executive director of the Conservative Climate Caucus, founded and still chaired by Curtis.

Average House personal office is on pace to leave $360,000 unspent this year

Posted by Keturah Hetrick on Dec. 11, 2023

Time to hand out those holiday bonuses: The average House personal office is on track to end the year with more than $360,000 left in its annual operating budget.

The average House personal office used just 61% of its office budget in the first nine months of the year, according to a LegiStorm analysis. That puts each office on pace to use 81% of its budget by the year's end, leaving close to $363,000 unspent per office.

The personal average office ended 2022 with 10% of its budget left unspent, or more than $176,000.

Boston Dynamics unleashes DLA Piper on AI regulation

Posted by Keturah Hetrick on Dec. 6, 2023

As Congress debates regulation of artificial intelligence, Boston Dynamics, the robotics company perhaps best known for its increasingly advanced "robot dogs," has hired its first Washington lobbying force.

DLA Piper is lobbying on "policy and legislation related to supporting the robotics industry and the intersection of robotics with artificial intelligence" for Boston Dynamics, according to a new disclosure. The lobbying work between the law firm and the Massachusetts company began last month.

Potential AI regulations have become one of Congress's most hot-button issues. Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Amy Klobuchar's (D-Minn.) Artificial Intelligence Research, Innovation, and Accountability Act, touted as a bipartisan compromise, has stalled since its November introduction. Congress is expected to further prioritize AI regulation in 2024.

About Caught Our Eye

We spend a large part of our days looking at data. Documents often come in by the dozens and hundreds. And while most are boring - how interesting can staring at a phone directory or salary records be, for example? - we find daily reasons for interest, amusement or even concern packed in the documents. So we are launching a new running feature that we call "Caught our Eye."

Longer than tweets but shorter than most blog posts, Caught our Eye items will bring back the interest in reviewing documents and researching people. Some items might bring hard, breaking news. Others will raise eyebrows and lead some into further inquiry. Others might be good for a joke or two around the water cooler. All will enlighten about the people or workings of Capitol Hill.

Caught our Eye items will be published each morning for LegiStorm Pro subscribers. Non-Pro site users will be able to receive the news items a few hours later. In addition to having immediate access to the news, LegiStorm Pro users will have a handy way to search and browse all past items.