Job Security for Lobbyists

By Judy Sarasohn
Thursday, November 16, 2006

The Republicans may have lost big time last week, with the Democrats taking the House and the Senate, but GOP staffers on the Hill and in the administration don't have to worry too much about their next moves -- there are apparently a lot of good jobs to be had in the influence biz.

Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, a North Carolina law firm that's home to former Democratic governor James Hunt, is bringing on John Mashburn, most recently general counsel to Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) and to then-Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.).

Mashburn is a Senate rules specialist, which will be helpful to clients who need help slowing legislative action in the upper chamber.

"The Democrats were very good at using the rules . . . to at least having their side of an issued aired," Mashburn said, who added that the decision to join the firm was made before the elections. He also worked for then-Sen. John D. Ashcroft (R-Mo.) and then-Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Tex.).

Mark Poovey, a partner at the firm, said that, Republican or Democrat, Mashburn "has such a fantastic résumé and he's from North Carolina."

Mashburn will start on Nov. 27. Also at the firm: Jimmy Broughton, who was chief of staff for then-Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.); Jeff Lane, chief of staff for then-Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.); and Kevin Jones, who was an aide to then-Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (D-Tex.).

Also finding jobs on the outside:

Brenda Becker, assistant to Vice President Cheney for legislative affairs, is joining Boston Scientific Corp. early next year as senior vice president for global government affairs. She also worked at the Commerce Department and the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.

Scott Milburn, press secretary for the Office of Management and Budget, is leaving for Apco Worldwide after Thanksgiving. He won't be lobbying but will be doing "strategic communications."

Going Out on Top

On the Democratic side, Kevin Kayes, chief counsel to Sen. Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.), will be joining Quinn Gillespie & Associates shortly. Even though his boss is going to be Senate majority leader, Kayes, who earlier served a stint as assistant Senate parliamentarian, said 23 years on the Hill is enough. He said he likes the bipartisan nature of Quinn Gillespie and that there are folks at the lobby shop who had done similar Hill work.

The vice chairman of the firm is David Hoppe, who used to be chief of staff to Lott, when he was majority leader. "We were friends up here" on Capitol Hill, Kayes said, "and we'll become better friends downtown."

Plain Talk From Code Wizards

Three of the last living Navajo code talkers went to the Hill this week to lobby for legislation that would keep Native American languages from dying out.

The legislation would allow federal funds for Indian education programs to be used for teaching and restoring native languages. The measure has been approved by the House and is pending in the Senate.

The code talkers received Congressional Gold Medals in 2001. Serving in the military during World War II, their coded messages based on the Navajo language, could not be broken by the Japanese. The three code talkers who tried their hand at lobbying were Samuel Tso, Keith Little and Merril Sandoval.

"I'm afraid we're going to lose our culture," Tso said in an interview yesterday. "Everything we do in our ceremony takes the language to carry it out." Tso, 84, said that he was punished in school for speaking his native language.

Whether he was successful persuading senators to support the legislation, he doesn't know. "It's hard to tell whether I carry a big weight or not," Tso said.

Among the supporters of the measure: the National Indian Education Association, the National Congress of American Indians and the National Indian Gaming Association.

The Colonel's New Front

Greenberg Traurig has snagged another military name, this time, Christopher E. Romig, former senior policy officer for the Iraq-Afghanistan Joint Transition Planning Group and special assistant to the military deputy for budget at the Pentagon. A retired Army colonel, he'll be lobbying on defense issues and appropriations, of course.

Also at Greenberg Traurig: Joe R. Reeder, undersecretary of the Army from 1993 to 1997, and Joseph Corrigan, who also worked congressional liaison for the Army .

Here and There

Moving about town . . . Suzanne Clark, executive vice president and chief operating officer of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, is leaving for the National Journal Group, where she'll be president, a role being relinquished by chief executive John Fox Sullivan. The group includes the National Journal, the Atlantic and Hotline. Replacing her at the chamber will be David Chavern, now chief legal officer.

Mary McManus, a lawyer at the Federal Communications Commission, has signed with cable giant Comcast Corp. as senior director for the FCC and regulatory policy and serve as a senior lobbyist.

Lisa Graves, formerly senior counsel for legislative strategy at the American Civil Liberties Union, has joined the Center for National Security Studies as deputy director. She'll be involved in legislative advocacy on surveillance and other civil liberties.