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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.

Last year's staff turnover was the House's worst in decades, data shows

Posted by Keturah Hetrick on March 21, 2022

Last year's rumored staff exodus was more than just speculation: According to LegiStorm data, House staffers left their jobs at the highest rate in at least two decades.

House turnover has crept upward since about 2009, but the pandemic and Capitol insurrection pushed far more staffers than usual to leave their jobs in 2021 - 55 percent more than in the preceding year. Last year's rates mark the House's highest turnover since at least 2001, the first full year of LegiStorm's salary data.

House Democrats were overall poorer at retaining staff and lost workers at a 24 percent higher rate than Republicans. Democratic staffers have been at the forefront of a recent push for staffer unionization.

Still, it was two Republicans who led the House in the highest turnover rates. Then-Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), who resigned his seat in January to lead the Trump Media & Technology Group, lost left at nearly five times the House average. Fellow Republican Victoria Spartz (Ind.) came in second, with about 3.5 times average.

Reps. Nanette Barragán (D-Calif.), Sean Casten (D-Ill.), Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.), Pat Fallon (R-Texas), Ken Buck (R-Colo.), Debbie Lesko (R-Ariz.), Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) and Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) rounded out the rest of the ten worst.

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 that of a staff assistant or other lower-paid staffer. LegiStorm considers only full-time, non-temporary staff and excludes all interns and fellows. 

LegiStorm is unable to analyze current Senate turnover due to a delay in the Report of the Secretary of the Senate. The Secretary of the Senate was required by law to publish its most recent by November 2021 and has not yet done so.

Democratic House staffer moves to United Steelworkers

Posted by Keturah Hetrick on March 18, 2022

After working for three Midwestern Democrats, a House staffer has moved to one of the country's biggest and most influential unions.

Megan Salrin joined United Steelworkers this month as a legislative representative. She comes from the office of Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), where she was a legislative assistant. Salrin has also worked for Rep. Frank Mrvan (D-Ind.) and then-Rep. Pete Visclosky (D-Ind.).

United Steelworkers spent $1.26 million on its federal lobbying program last year. The union's PAC gave almost $92,000 to congressional candidates, virtually all Democrats, last cycle. The PAC donates $5,000 to Kaptur's campaign most years, according to Federal Election Commission data.

Sen. Menendez discloses his wife's pot of gold

Posted by Christian Stafford on March 17, 2022

St. Patrick's Day was celebrated a day early for Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), who disclosed yesterday that his wife has her very own pot of gold.

The filing states that Menendez’s wife owns as much as $250,000 worth of gold bars. Menendez and his wife’s total assets, including the gold, are worth more than $1.1 million, according to Menendez’s latest annual financial disclosure.

According to a review of congressional personal financial disclosures compiled by Insider’s Conflicted Congress project, Menendez is not the only member of Congress who has reported gold on their personal financial disclosures.

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Rep. Susan Bonamici (D-Ore.), Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) and  Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.) have all reported gold on previous financial disclosures, with Romney owning the most, at $500,000 worth of gold bullion.

Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-N.D.) and Rep. Michael Cloud (R-Texas) have both reported as much as $15,000 worth of “precious metals” in previous financial disclosures, but it is unclear if that includes gold.

Maryland attorney registers as Ukrainian weapons helper

Posted by Keturah Hetrick on March 15, 2022

A Maryland attorney claims to be volunteering to help the Ukrainian government source and procure weapons, according to a new pair of Justice Department filings.

Attorney Luke Kaczmarek characterized his arangement with the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs as an "oral agreement or understanding," not a formal contract. He writes in one disclosure:

"I volunteered to assist the Ukrainian-American Bar Association (UABA) with the coordination of humanitarian aid to Ukraine on February 24, 2022. On March 3, 2022, I was approached by one of the volunteers inquiring as to whether I could assist Adrian Kellgren, Director of Industrial Production at Kel-Tech CNC Industries, with an expedited export license for a batch of small arms that could no longer be delivered to its intended recipient in Odessa. I was introduced to Volodymyr Muzylov, First Secretary at the Embassy of Ukraine in the United States, in the course of assisting Mr. Kellgren. I successfully managed to resolve the export license issue for Mr. Kellgren as of March 8, 2022. On March 9, 2022, I verbally offered to assist Mr. Muzylov with the sourcing and acquisition of material for the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine (UAMOD), and he verbally accepted. I have since acted on the basis of our shared agreement to source existing inventory of equipment needed by UAMOD. I expect to work in this capacity for the duration of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and I have not, am not, and shall not receive any monetary compensation for my assistance."

Kaczmarek is a relatively low-profile attorney based in Bel Air, Md. In 2016, the Baltimore Sun described him as a Trump supporter who was "inspired by Trump's promise to clean up corruption in Washington." He was president of the Maryland Young Republicans' Harford County chapter until last year, when the chapter was dissolved following an anti-Semitic email sent to its listserv. According to the Baltimore Sun, Kaczmarek claimed no involvement with the incident.

Democrats lead the House in 2021 office spending

Posted by Keturah Hetrick on March 14, 2022

Democrats led the House in 2021 office spending, according to LegiStorm data.

Of the 11 representatives who spent more than 97 percent of their official budgets, 10 were Democrats.

Rep. David Trone (D-Md.) topped the charts, with his office spending more than 98.7 percent of its annual allowance. Of his total budget, 87.5 percent went toward paying his staff, compared to a House average of 69.0 percent.

Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.), the next highest spender, put 82.8 percent of his budget toward staffer pay.

Democratic Reps. Seth Moulton (Mass.), Anna Eshoo (Calif.), Peter DeFazio (Ore.), Dutch Ruppersberger (Md.), Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.), Elissa Slotkin (Mich.), Ann Kuster (N.H.) and Betty McCollum (Minn.), as well as Republican Mike Simpson (Idaho), also each spent more than 97.0 percent of their office budgets.

Democrats also spent more on average, with 87.1 percent of their budgets used. GOP members averaged 85.2 percent.

With about 62.1 percent spent, Rep. Jim Baird (R-Ind.) disclosed the smallest expenses of any office. It's the norm for congressional offices to report some expenses after the year is over, and Baird's office was late on reporting expenses for more than 13 percent of his 2020 budget.

Any unused funds are returned to the Department of the Treasury.

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.