LegiStorm

As YouTube reaches highs in web traffic amid the pandemic, the tech giant is also mixing up its government affairs team.

YouTube added Kevin Kane, formerly with Twitter, as a government-affairs and public-policy professional this month. Though YouTube itself has not reported any such expenses, parent company Google disclosed more than $11.8 million spent on federal lobbying last year.

Kane spent the last couple of years as a lobbyist for Twitter, most recently representing the company on consumer, immigration, government and labor issues. Before that, he worked in congressional relations for Orbital ATK (now Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems), as well as for Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) and retired Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas).

A former Senate chief of staff has left a major association after a few months on the job to run a public-affairs firm.

Joe Britton is now principal at Pioneer Public Affairs, a new firm. He previously spent four years as chief of staff to Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and has kept busy since leaving the senator's office in November. In addition to joining the Federation of American Hospitals as executive vice president, the father of two has also founded the Business Climate Initiative, an advocacy group.

Britton's work experience also includes previous jobs with former Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) and the USDA.

The Republican Governors Association has picked up a new hire who already has an "in" with one GOP governor.

Mike Maloof comes from the office of Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), where he was a senior legislative assistant. He previously worked for ex-Rep. Kristi Noem (R-S.D.), who is now the governor of South Dakota.

Maloof is now a policy adviser for RGA, which works to elect GOP governors across the country.

A senior aide to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has gone to the Commerce Department to work with the White House.

Sean McLean had worked for Cruz since 2014, most recently as his legislative director. Before that, he worked for now-Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) when she served in the House.

McLean now serves as a Commerce Department liaison to the White House.

The newest legislative assistant in Rep. Jim Hagedorn's (R-Minn.) office is new to the Hill but not new to politics. 

Before joining Hagedorn this month to cover trade and healthcare, Julia Convertini worked for a year as a legislative assistant at Ogilvy Government Relations. Convertini did not register to lobby at Ogilvy, whose clients have included brands such as Wells Fargo, FedEx, Nike and the Motion Picture Association.

Convertini also previously worked for the Republican Attorneys General Association and the Mississippi Republican Party.