LegiStorm

While members of Congress are required to detail how they are spending tax dollars, it's not always possible for the public to learn who the ultimate recipient of that spending is. 

Take the case of the office of Rep. John Carter (R-Texas). Jonas Miller, Carter's chief of staff, was listed as the recipient of nearly one in every two dollars spent except for payroll, according to a LegiStorm review of 2021 House spending data. He received $229,560 in total reimbursement expenses. The reimbursements exceeded Miller's salary of $183,445 last year.

Some of the expenses made out to Miller include more than $37,000 for telecom, $22,000 for printing and reproduction and $12,000 for web development hosting. By contrast, most staffers show reimbursements only for personal meal and transportation expenses incurred by travel to and from the member's district.

"To keep our constituents well informed, we produce a lot of franked communications," Emily Dowdell, Carter's communications director, told LegiStorm. "For [efficiency's] sake and in accordance with House Rules and House Administration Committee Regulations, a staff members' credit card has been used to pay for those services rendered and those charges are itemized, documented and have receipts with the Office of Financial Counseling." 

The office of Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas) also stood out, with Robert Schroeder, Nehls' chief of staff, listed as the recipient of nearly a third of all expenses except for payroll. He received more than $100,000 in total reimbursement expenses, or more than one in every four non-payroll dollars spent. Prior to his current job, Schroeder worked as deputy chief of staff in Rep. Carter's office.

Lack of transparency of spending can sometimes lead to trouble for members of Congress.

In June 2020, LegiStorm was the first to report on the irregular spending activity of the late Rep. Jim Hagedorn (R-Minn.), and the matter was referred to the House Committee on Ethics in July 2021 after extensive media scrutiny. In an October 2021 report which cited LegiStorm's reporting, the committee found that Hagedorn "may have used official funds to contract for services with companies owned or controlled by his staff members."

George W. Bush's former scheduler, a woman whose husband is tied to Donald Trump, has found her way back to Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio).

Melissa Bennett began the Bush years as scheduler in the White House Office of the Chief of Staff and worked her way up to become the president's assistant for appointments and scheduling.

She's now Portman's scheduler, reprising the job that she held with Portman when he served in the House. Bennett has also worked for then-Rep. Deborah Pryce (R-Ohio).

She's married to Barry Bennett, a former Trump campaign senior adviser. Barry co-founded now-defunct lobbying firm Avenue Strategies with former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski and has since started his own group, Bennett Strategies.

One of Rep. Kurt Schrader's (D-Ore.) longest-serving staffers has taken a ride off the Hill.

Zach Stokes left Shrader's office for the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions, where he's now a public-affairs manager. Stokes started in Shrader's office in 2010 and worked his way up from staff assistant to senior policy adviser.

The IAAPA spent about a quarter of a million dollars last year to lobby on immigration and consumer-safety issues.

As Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) butts heads with the administration over natural gas, he's added an industry lobbyist to his Energy and Natural Resources Committee team.

C.J. Osman comes from the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America, where he was vice president for government affairs. He was trade group's main in-house lobbyist. Osman is now a professional staff member and is the committee's Democratic lead on, among other issues, natural gas and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Manchin has recently crossed swords with FERC over natural gas, earlier this month calling for agency chair Richard Glick to "do [his] damn job" by approving natural-gas pipline permits. Manchin has since praised the agency for walking back some of its pipeline rules. Glick, a Biden appointee, has "perhaps the most far-reaching agenda of any leader ever at the commission," according to a recent Politico characterization of his climate-change policies.

Taxation reigns as the top issue for Washington lobbyists. But that wasn't the case as recently as a few months ago, according to a new LegiStorm analysis of lobbying data.

For eight consecutive quarters, lobbying groups had spent more on health care than any other legislative issue - until last year's fourth quarter, when lobbying groups spent an estimated $102.9 million to lobby on tax issues. Groups spent another $96.9 million on health-care issues the same time period. Other top lobbying issues by estimated spending include budget/appropriations, Medicare/Medicaid, defense, trade, energy/nuclear, finance, transportation and telecommunications.

While lobbying groups may shell out the most for tax lobbying, other legislative issues are growing even faster in their lobbying demand. Energy and nuclear issues grew by 415 percent from 2020 Q4 to 2021 Q4. Chemicals, air-and-water quality and Medicare/Medicaid also each saw growth of at least 164 percent.