LegiStorm

When Senate Democrats recently excoriated the Washington Redskins over their name, the Virginia Democrats were noticeably absent from the criticism. Now lobbyists with ties to the Virginia delegation stand to benefit.

In late May, the team hired lobbying firm McGuireWoods Consulting - its first lobbying firm in recent history - to counter public pressure to change the team's name, which some consider to be an epithet. The move came shortly after 50 Democratic senators signed a letter to the NFL condemning the name. Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Tim Kaine (D-Va.) were two of only five Senate Democrats not to sign the letter. The Redskins play their games in Maryland, but their practice facilities are located in Virginia.

Two of McGuireWoods lobbyists working for the Redskins have ties to Warner. Andrew Smith, most recently finance director on Gov. Terry McAulliffe's successful gubernatorial campaign, worked on Warner's 2008 re-election, in Warner's office on Capitol Hill and for the senator's Forward Together PAC.

Heather Martin, who has been with McGuireWoods since 2007, previously served as director of Warner's former state leadership political action committee, One Virginia PAC.

Neither Smith nor Martin were listed on the original lobbying filing by McGuire Woods announcing their new client but the firm's latest quarterly filing discloses the involvement of the pair.

While neither Warner nor Kaine have publicly endorsed the name, both disagreed with the letter. According to a Warner aide, the senator does not think it is Congress's responsibility to force a name change. A Kaine aide told the Washington Post that the senator was uncomfortable with the letter's language, but does support a change to the name.

A Hill staffer arrested on felony gun charges at the Capitol Friday morning is a graduate of Columbine High School, where an infamous mass-shooting occurred and where his father was on the scene as a first responder.

Ryan Shucard, who joined the office of Rep. Tom Marino (R-Pa.) in May, was arrested at 9:15 a.m. According to an earlier Roll Call article, he brought an unlicensed 9mm handgun and magazine into the Cannon House Office Building and was detained while going through building security. He was placed immediately on unpaid leave from Marino's staff.

Shucard graduated from Columbine Senior High School in Littleton, Colo. in 2006. Columbine was the site of a 1999 school shooting which claimed the lives of 15 people, including both shooters. While Shucard was not in that school at the time, his father was a police officer who responded to the scene of the shootings.

Previously, Shucard was a staff assistant and special projects assistant for Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) from 2011-2013. During his year off the Hill, he worked for DDC Advocacy and the American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries.

While in Congress, former Rep. Dale Kildee (D-Mich.) made a name for himself as a friend to Native Americans. But since his 2013 retirement, Kildee has proven to be selective in which tribes he counts as friends.

After retiring from Congress in 2013, Kildee began working for lobbying firm Akin Gump as well as niche government affairs firm Ietan Consulting. Ietan specializes in federal advocacy for tribal governments and businesses.

Kildee filed his first lobbying papers last week on behalf of a pair of tribes, including the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indian. Also known as the Gun Lake Tribe, it owns and operates the Gun Lake Casino in Wayland, Michigan. According to the filing, Kildee will lobby Congress, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Department of the Interior on gambling and land trust issues. 

In 1997, Kildee authored and helped pass the Michigan Indian Land Claims Settlement Act. Last month the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians attempted to use the law as justification for putting land into trust in Lansing and Huron Township to build new casinos - ones that would compete for business against his casino-owning client. In response, Kildee penned a letter to the Department of the Interior arguing that the law was not intended to allow for off-reservation casinos. Kildee told Michigan publication MLive that, "Congress would never have passed the bill if that had been in there."

The proposed site for the Sault Tribe casino in Lansing is less than 70 miles from the Gun Lake Casino.

A former retail trade organization lobbyist has joined the House Energy and Commerce Committee as a Republican counsel.

Melissa Froelich became a full time lobbyist for the National Retail Federation in 2012, and left earlier this month as legislative counsel. 

The National Retail Federation bills itself as the largest retail trade association in the world, representing companies with millions of employees. The Federation's stated policy agenda includes efforts to lower the corporate tax rate as well as swipe fees on credit card purchases. Most notably, the Federation supports efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

Chaired by Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.), the House Energy and Commerce Committee's oversight responsibilities include consumer protection, public health, and interstate and foreign commerce.

While working for the Federation, Froelich lobbied against swipe fees and in support of the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Froelich studied advertising and political science at the University of Miami and holds a law degree from the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law.

Sen. Bill Nelson's (D-Fla.) new military staffer hails from a distinguished military and political family.

Bale Dalton joined the Floridian's staff in June as a defense special assistant. His father, Roy Bale "Skip" Dalton. Jr., is the federal judge for the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida in Orlando, a nomination which Nelson shepherded through the Senate. Prior to his judgeship, Skip Dalton was a counsel for Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) in 2005-2006.

His uncle is the former Secretary of the Navy, John Dalton. He served during the Clinton Administration after serving chairing the Federal Home Loan Bank Board under President Jimmy Carter. His grandfather, Roy Bale Dalton, was a decorated Navy pilot who served during the Second World War.

The youngest Dalton is a distinguished service member as well. After graduating with merit from the U.S. Naval Academy in 2002, he performed search and rescue missions during Hurricane Katrina. In addition, he was deployed to Iraq four times and Afghanistan once during Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. Dalton graduated from the U.S. Naval War College in 2010 and earned his MPP in international and global affairs from Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government this year. He has been a helicopter pilot in the Navy Reserves since 2012.