LegiStorm

Months after an unprecedented increase to the Members' Representational Allowance, 85% of representatives haven't used even a dollar of those additional funds, according to a LegiStorm analysis.

In March, Congress authorized a 21 percent increase to the House's office budgets for the 2022 fiscal year. That increase - the highest since the MRA's creation in 1996 - gave the average office an extra $317,241 to spend in 2022 year, equivalent to $79,310 per quarter.

For most of Congress, the old funds would have been enough: 85% of representatives disclosed Q1 and Q2 spending at rates that would have been sustainable without any MRA increase.

The MRA increase was intended to bolster staffer salaries in order to attract and retain talent. The average personal office spent just 36.34% of its budget in the first six months of the year, leaving the average office more than $91,000 shy of even touching the increase.

Democrat on average have spent 1.72% more of their office budgets than Republicans, a difference of about $32,500 per office.

The House's minimum salary of $45,000 per year went into effect on Sept. 1. The extent of staffer pay increases from the new salary floor won't be clear until the House releases its Q3 expense data in late November.

As Politico reported this morning, the House Select Committee on Modernization of Congress and the House Administration Committee plan to announce a resolution today that includes a reevaluation about how the MRA is calculated.

A Republican legislative director has moved to Deutsche Bank ahead of her boss's scandal-induced retirement.

Laura Weldon joined the German multinational investment bank's D.C. office as vice president for U.S. public affairs. She most recently worked for Rep. Van Taylor (R-Texas), who dropped his reelection bid in March after admitting to an extramarital affair with woman that British tabloids dubbed the "ISIS bride."

Weldon has also worked for then-Reps. Scott Taylor (R-Va.) and Scott Rigell (R-Va.).

Three out of every five of this session's freshman representatives and nearly all freshman senators have added at least one lobbyist to their staff, according to LegiStorm data.

Eight of the 117th Congress's nine senators - all but Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) - have hired former registered federal lobbyists to their personal and/or committee offices. Among 72 House freshman, at least 42 have hired ex-lobbyists to their payrolls.

Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), who previously served in the House, has hired five lobbyists since moving to the Senate in 2021. Freshman Sens. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), as well as Reps. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) and Frank Mrvan (D-Ind.), have hired least three lobbyists apiece.

Roughly three percent of current staff across the entire House and Senate have previously registered as federal lobbyists or foreign agents. This count includes district staff.

Compared to Republicans, congressional Democrats are spending more of their recess holding town halls. But that doesn't mean they're getting more face time with constituents, with more Democrats holding events behind the safety of their phones.

Democrats have scheduled 107 town halls for the August recess, according to LegiStorm data. Half are in person; the rest are mostly by telephone.

Republicans, meanwhile, are hanging up their phones and going face-to-face with constituents. The GOP is hosting four-fiths of their 94 town halls in person - many without any apparent COVID-19 precautions.

Rep. Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) takes home the gold for this year's highest number of recess town halls. He's holding 15, all in person, according to LegiStorm data.

Rep. Ruben Gallego's (D-Ariz.) top staffer has landed at the vice president's office.

Grisella Martinez joined Kamala Harris's team this month as director of legislative affairs. Martinez had served as Gallego's chief of staff since last year.

Martinez was previously a lobbyist for the National Association of Broadcasters and the National Immigration Forum and spent five years working for then-Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.).