LegiStorm

After working for three members in a single year, a GOP staffer has found a new home off the Hill.

Yvonne Barker started this month as government-relations manager at Schneider Electric. The Fortune 500 energy-management company lobbies on issues including grid modernization, infrastructure and manufacturing.

Barker most recently as Rep. Victoria Spartz's (R-Ind.) deputy chief of staff and counsel. Before that, she did a short stint with Rep. Beth Van Duyne (R-Texas) and spent five years with then-Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.) until his departure from Congress at the end of last term.

After working for West Virginia members in both chambers, a GOP aide has landed at the telecom industry's biggest Washington advocate.

Sydney Pettit is now government-affairs director at CTIA - The Wireless Association. The trade group is on track to spend more than $11.1 million on federal lobbying this year and, according to OpenSecrets, is the highest-spending telecommunications lobbying group.

Pettit comes from the office of Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.V.), where she was a legislative assistant. Before that, the West Virginia native worked for Rep. David McKinley (R-W.V.).

A GOP Hill staffer is back to the House as Rep. Dan Bishop's (R-N.C.) legislative director and counsel.

Scott Knittle started yesterday with Bishop's office. He most recently worked as senior counsel to the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Before leaving for HUD, Knittle worked for Rep. Tom Massie (R-Ky.) and for former Reps. Karen Handel (R-Ga.) and Keith Rothfus (R-Pa.).

Rep. Matt Rosendale's (R-Mont.) new chief of staff might be new to the Hill, but he's no stranger to the Washington establishment.

Trevor Whetstone spent most of the last decade working for the federal government, most recently working for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as senior policy counsel. He's also done several stints with the Department of Justice's Office of Justice Programs and served as a justice adviser to Donald Trump's Domestic Policy Council.

Whetstone replaces James Braid, Rosendale's original chief of staff, who left last month for the Conservative Partnership Institute.

Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-Calif.) appears to be the biggest stock trader in Congress, filing more than one report a week detailing his trading activity, according to a LegiStorm analysis of members' personal financial disclosures. 

So far this year Lowenthal has filed 65 reports with the House Clerk's office. His busiest month was March, when he filed 15 transactions as required by the STOCK Act.

The Act does not require disclosure of who does the trading, whether the member, a family member or a professional trader. Most of the trades involve Lowenthal's wife's account. Of the 65 reports filed, 19 of them include a total of 35 joint transactions made by Lowenthal and his spouse, while the remaining 46 reports include transactions made only by his spouse. 

Lowenthal's disclosure indicates the couple has assets totaling between $1.4 million and $5.3 million. The vast majority of assets reported, including all stock transactions that occurred in 2020, are listed as being owned by Lowenthal's spouse.

In a tie for second for most active traders are Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) and Mark Green (R-Tenn.), each of whom have filed 18 reports. Third is Rep. Susie Lee (D-Nev.) with 14 reports filed, and tied for fourth are Reps. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.), Kevin Hern (R-Okla.), Michael McCaul (R-Texas) and Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.), who have each filed 12 reports. Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) has filed the most reports of any senator this year, with 11 reports filed.