LegiStorm

After four years at Kountoupes Denham Carr & Reid LLC, Meredith Rogers is now press secretary to Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.).

Rogers interned for Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) before joining Kountoupes Denham Carr & Reid, where her most recent position was communications and development manager. She did not register to lobby while there.

She is one of several Kountoupes Denham Carr & Reid revolvers, with former and current Kountoupes Denham Carr & Reid employees having worked in various congressional offices, including Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.) and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.).

Kountoupes Denham Carr & Reid has represented several big-name clients, such as Best Buy Co. Inc., Yahoo! Inc. and Intel Corp. The lobbying powerhouse received more than $11 million for federal lobbying in 2023.

The fastest growing issue amongst lobbyist spending for 2024 Q1 is natural resources, which has seen a 170% increase from 2023 Q1 spending.

Nearly $6 million has been spent on lobbying for natural resources this quarter, ranking it among the top 10 issues for spending. Democratic-leaning and Republican-leaning firms have both prioritized this issue, spending approximately $1.1 million and $1.6 million, respectively.

Water conservation is a leading issue for top registrants, with Natural Resource Results LLC lobbying for stronger water source protections in the Farm Bill and Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck LLP lobbying for water infrastructure improvements for the Nation Act and improved drought legislation.

Health, agriculture and energy are also among the top 10 issues with the highest reported spending. 

A Republican House staffer has climbed his way to a position at public affairs and strategic communications firm HillEast Group LLC.

Tyler Gutchess is now vice president of HillEast. Gutchess was most recently legislative assistant to Rep. Marc Molinaro (R-N.Y.). He previously held various positions with Rep. John Katko (R-N.Y.).

Under Rep. Molinaro, Gutchess covered issues such as environmental protection, public lands and natural resources and foreign trade and international finance.

HillEast Group spent nearly $2 million on federal lobbying in 2023, naming Airports Council International - North America, U.S. Travel Association and Global Digital Asset and Cryptocurrency Association among their many clients. 

A government relations firm has snagged a longtime chief of staff from the House.

Mike Smullen has been named partner at Alignment Government Strategies. The firm's lobbying clients have included Navistar Inc., TTX Co. and AARP Inc.

Smullen has over 25 years of experience on Capitol Hill, including 13 years of experience as a chief of staff. He served as chief of staff to Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Ohio), Rep. Steve Austria (R-Ohio) and Rep. Bill Johnson (R-Ohio). Johnson recently resigned to become president of Youngstown State University.

A House Ethics Committee attorney has answered the call, accepting a position with T-Mobile.

Janet Foster is now senior corporate counsel for T-Mobile USA Inc. Foster worked for the House Ethics Committee since April 2018. She held the position of senior investigative counsel prior to her departure.

T-Mobile has lobbied on a range of issues, including intelligence and surveillance and taxation. Foster has not filed lobbying papers or indicated that she will lobby for T-Mobile within her new position.