LegiStorm

An attorney has turned eight years with a Silicon Valley congresswoman into an Apple government-affairs gig.

Z.J. Hull joined the tech behemoth this month as senior government-affairs professional for cybersecurity and privacy. Apple disclosed that the company spent more than $7.4 million on federal lobbying in 2019. 

Before this, Hull was legislative counsel to Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), as well as the congresswoman's Administration Committee technology and cybersecurity adviser. Lofgren's district includes San Jose, Silicon Valley's largest city.

A lobbyist committed to workplace diversity has taken his passion to the Hill.

Joe Vaughan is now director of diversity and inclusion policy under Rep. Joyce Beatty's (D-Ohio) House Financial Services Committee's Diversity and Inclusion Subcommittee. He's worked with the subcommittee on diversity issues in the past, though not as a staff member.

Vaughan comes from the Williams Group public-policy group, where he was managing director for federal government relations. He previously worked as a lobbyist for the the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, as well as United By Interest, a bipartisan government-affairs group. Vaughan also ran the Corporate Diversity and Inclusion Forum, which aimed to promote diversity across financial-services companies.

A Democratic attorney has taken a job with Big Pharma after years focused on veterans' affairs.

Grace Rodden joined the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America this month as a senior director. The trade group dropped more than $29.3 million on federal lobbying in 2019, making it the fourth-largest spender of the year, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Rodden spent the last five years with the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, most recently as general counsel. She previously served in the U.S. Navy and Navy Reserve and retired as a lieutenant commander.

A GOP aide has turned her Israel expertise and mere months on the Hill into a think-tank job.

Erielle Davidson spent the last four months as policy adviser to Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) before leaving this month for the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, where she's now a senior policy analyst. JINSA lobbies through a contract with Covington & Burling, most recently disclosing work on U.S.-Israeli security cooperation.

Davidson has also worked as associate director at George Mason Law's Center for the Middle East and International Law and has spent time in Israel. She is a part-time student at Georgetown Law.

A tax attorney is back to the Ways and Means Committee, now with a decade of lobbying experience under his belt.

Payson Peabody re-joined the committee this month as tax counsel under Ranking Member Kevin Brady (R-Texas). He originally joined the committee in 2001 and later worked for ex-Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.).

Since leaving the Hill in 2009, Peabody was managing director and tax counsel to the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association and senior counsel at Dykema Gossett, a law firm. He registered as a tax lobbyist for each organization.