Some 67 current members of Congress have had 30 or more former staff become lobbyists, with Democrats dominating the top of that list.
Of the 67 members, 37 are Democrats, with 28 Republicans and two independents. Among this group, Democrats have produced roughly 20% more lobbyists than Republicans. Sen. Chuck Shumer (D-N.Y.) leads all members of Congress with 102 former staff that have gone to K Street. Behind him is Republican Sen. Susan Collins (Maine), who has generated 76 "revolving door" lobbyists.
Although the number of lobbyists to come from congressional staff leans Democrat, the opposite is true for the number of partisan-leaning lobbying firms. Of the 903 lobbying firms with a partisan lean that have made a filing in 2024, 520 are Republican-leaning firms. This means Republican-leaning firms outnumber Democrat-leaning firms nearly 1.4 to 1.
The party disparity may be largely a function of the fact that Democrats have more often controlled the Senate in recent years. Senate offices have larger staffs than their House counterparts and the majority controls much bigger committee and leadership offices than their minority counterparts.
