LegiStorm

Amid the Louisiana delegation's ascent to the one of the most powerful in Congress, a staffer with deep ties to the state has moved to power-distribution holding company Berkshire Hathaway Energy.

Blake Schindler was most recently Sen. Bill Cassidy's (R-La.) policy adviser on energy and the environment, among other legislative issues. Schindler had worked for Cassidy since 2014, when the now-senator was still a representative. Schindler, himself a Louisiana native, is also an alumnus of former Sen. David Vitter (R-La.).

Schindler's long-standing Louisiana ties may prove beneficial in his new role as a director at BHE. With Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) as the House's top two, the state has taken on a greater significance in both chambers.

Former Rep. Duncan D. Hunter (R-Calif.), who resigned from Congress in 2020 after pleading guilty to a felony, has disclosed that he's spent months as a federal lobbyist for a company with longstanding ties to the congressman and his family.

Hunter is lobbying for technology research-and-development firm Trex Enterprises on adoption of "radar on... major airport runways in order to minimize damage and/or loss of life due to [foreign objects] on runways," per a recent filing.

The lobbying work began in March, according to the disclosure, which Hunter filed earlier this month. The Lobbying Disclosure Act requires qualifying lobbyists to disclose any new clients within 45 days of the work's start.

This isn't Hunter's first dealing with Trex. Hunter's uncle reportedly founded the company in 1978 but has since left. The congressman and his father, former Rep. Duncan L. Hunter (R-Calif.), each secured millions of dollars in earmarks for Trex during their respective congressional tenures. And the younger Hunter's campaign accepted over $12,000 in donations from Trex employees from 2007-2014, according to Federal Election Commission data.

In December 2019, Hunter pled guilty to felony misuse of campaign funds and resigned from Congress the following month. He was later pardoned by then-President Donald Trump just two weeks before he was supposed to begin an 11-month prison sentence.

A longtime Democratic staffer has returned to the Senate following a brief University of Michigan lobbying stint.

Since leaving her position as federal-relations director for the university, Amanda Beaumont has joined the Appropriations Committee's Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Subcommittee, where she is a professional staff member under subcommittee Chair Tammy Baldwin (R-Wis.).

Beaumont spent a decade with the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee until joining the Univeristy of Michigan at the beginning of this term. She is also an alumna of then-Sens. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) and Al Franken (D-Minn.), as well as a former Alliance for Excellent Education lobbyist.

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee's press secretary has left the Hill for SKDK.

Marcus Robinson is now a director of public affairs at the influential Democratic political-consulting and public-relations group.

SKDK does not actively lobby the federal government, at least for official disclosure purposes. As the American Prospect reported earlier this year, the firm has "long avoided registering as a traditional lobbying firm" by "[shaping] the narrative around their companies through ad spots and PR campaigns" and "[engaging] in more direct influence-peddling through junkets and events, tapping their political connections, which the firm routinely publicizes."

Robinson was most recently press secretary under EPW Chair Tom Carper (D-Del.), who is not seeking reelection. Robinson previously held the same position with Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), then House Judiciary Committee chair.

Former Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-Colo.) is now a registered lobbyist.

Perlmutter made his official federal lobbying debut through Holland & Knight on behalf of Tricon Residential. Per a recent disclosure, Perlmutter is lobbying on housing policy for the Toronto-based real-estate group, which has rental propertes in the U.S. and Canada. Holland & Knight has represented Tricon Residential since January and added Perlmutter to the account as an official lobbyist this past quarter.

Perlmutter has been a partner in Holland & Knight's public policy and regulation group since retiring from office at the end of last term.

Former members are required to wait one year from the time they leave Congress before lobbying the House or Senate, per ethics rules, but are not prohibited from lobbying the executive branch before the one-year mark.