Lobbying filings for the third quarter show revolving season is back after taking a slight dip in recent years.
With three quarters gone, 2015 has seen 498 people come and go between Congress and the lobbying community. That number already surpasses last year's total of 481 of staffers who became lobbyists and vice versa. Of the 498 revolvers this year, 399 moved from Congress to lobby and 99 moved from the private sector to Congress.
If this year's pace continues, 2015 will have the highest revolving volume since 2011, which saw nearly 800 people move between the Hill and K Street after Republicans took control of the House. The revolving door is used more often in off-election years. Since 2002, the earliest year for which LegiStorm records the revolving door, election years have averaged 471 revolvers while off-election years have averaged 717.
2007 saw the highest volume by far as the Democrats take control of the House and nearly 1,000 people switched congressional and lobbying roles.
2012 saw the lowest number of revolvers in recent years with only 405 going through the door, which came after an earmarks ban that went into effect in 2011. 2013 had the lowest volume of revolvers for an off-election year since 2002.
Democrats have thus far made up 40% of all 2015 revolvers, proportionally slightly less than their congressional makeup, while Republicans account for 59%. The remaining 1% are unaffiliated with either party or serve as bipartisan staff.
