LegiStorm

For the first time in at least 20 years, JDs have broken past PhDs as the most-valued staffer degrees in both chambers.

For most of the last decade, doctorates reigned as the best-paying degree in Congress. But about a year ago, JDs slipped past PhDs as the highest paying - and their edge is only growing, according to LegiStorm data.

In 2020, an attorney could expect to make five percent more than a PhD holder in the House and the same as a PhD holder in the Senate. This year, that difference has grown to 15 percent more in the House ($85,700 vs. $74,100) and seven percent more in the Senate ($106,400 vs. $99,500).

Doctorates were once so valued in Congress that a decade ago, PhD holders made 23 percent more in the House and 14 percent more in the Senate.

Some of the trend toward paying lawyers more than doctors comes from a rapid pay increase for congressional attorneys. JDs have seen the largest rates of pay increase of any degree over the last decade.

But some of the difference is that pay for PhDs hasn't kept up. In the House, PhD holders' median salaries have shrunk for two consecutive years and now lag thousands of dollars behind their 2019 pay rates. In the Senate, where larger staffs and a bigger budget allow for more specialized areas of expertise among staff, PhDs have continued to see a pay increase at similar rates to associate's, bachelor's and master's degrees.

A newly minted lobbyist is back with House Oversight and Reform Committee Democrats.

Kadeem Cooper rejoined the committee as deputy chief oversight counsel. He comes from the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, where he was policy counsel and a registered lobbyist. The group was founded in 1963 at President John F. Kennedy's request as an extension of the civil-rights movement.

Cooper originally worked for the committee from 2018 until this past January. He is also a former Covington & Burling associate.

Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) failed to report in a timely way several stock transactions his dependent children made over a year ago while he was a member of the House.

Marshall made the disclosure on Tuesday with the House Clerk's office, more than a year after the 45 day reporting deadline required by the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act, better known as the STOCK Act. The disclosure indicates that between Feb. 24 and July 8, 2020, Marshall's dependent children made several financial transactions, including a purchase of as much as $15,000 worth of stock in both Chevron and Disney during the pandemic stock market crash.

While the transactions were reported in Marshall's most recent annual report filed with the Senate, they were not included in any of his periodic transaction reports he filed as a member of the House in 2020.

Marshall joins a list of dozens of other members who have recently failed to disclose their financial transactions within the reporting window specified in the STOCK Act.

Google has added a Democratic aide to its D.C. communications team.

Danielle Cohen is now a policy communications manager for the tech behemoth, which spent more than $8.8 million on its federal lobbying program in the last year.

Cohen joined Google from the office of Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), where she was communications director. She's also worked for Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.).

A former Navy secretary with deep ties to Australia's submarine-policy sphere is now representing the Australian government for work related to AUKUS, the new U.S.-U.K.-Australian security agreement that changes Australia's acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines.

Donald Winter, who served as secretary of the Navy under George W. Bush and Barack Obama, has newly disclosed his status as a foreign agent for the oceanic country. Winter is receiving $6,000 per day plus expenses to help the Australian prime minister's office to "engage with U.S. personnel to facilitate Australia's engagement with [the] U.S. and U.K. per [the] AUKUS agreement," according to a pair of recent Justice Department disclosures. Australia paid Winter another $10,125 last month for unspecified "technical advisory services," according to the filings.

Less than two weeks old, the AUKUS deal has been met with strong international reaction. Chinese leaders have expressed concern that the pact will lead to an Asia-Pacific arms race. France, meanwhile, has pulled its ambassadors from the U.S. and Australia because the deal cancelled an existing submarine trade agreement between France and Australia.

Winter has worked behind the scenes of Australia's nuclear submarine policy for years, and he's advised the country's National Shipbuilding Advisory Board and Prime Minister Scott Morrison, among others. As head of an independent oversight board, Winter reportedly began pushing three years ago for Australia to reconsider its submarine contract with France.