LegiStorm

Two Democratic representatives are on pace to overspend their 2019 office budgets after three quarters, according to a new LegiStorm breakdown of member expenses.

Guam Delegate Michael San Nicolas tops the ranks with 79.45 spent in the first three quarters of the year. The average representative spent 62.45 percent of her or his budget during that same time period. San Nicolas has already spent nearly 15 percent of his total annual budget on travel, while the average representative has spent only 2.7 percent on travel. Official expense books do not detail where San Nicolas's office traveled to rack up $204,000 in taxpayer travel expenses in nine months, but the spending includes roughly $49,000 on commercial transportation in the third quarter alone.

Guam is nearly 8,000 miles from Washington, D.C. Member office allowances vary somewhat, with the district's distance from Washington being a key factor in how much of an increase a member might get.

Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.) follows San Nicolas with 78.26 percent of his budget gone, thanks mainly to heavy spending on printing and franking - a common strategy to reach constituents. The average representative has spent about 1.6 percent of her or his office budget on this form of constituent outreach.

Rep. Tim Walberg (Mich.), the lone Republican among the House's top nine spenders, joins San Nicholas, Scott, Robin Kelly (D-Ill.), Susan Davis (D-Calif.), Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), David Loebsack (D-Iowa) and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) as the biggest spenders.

The Department of Commerce has added a helping hand from the Senate.

Harry Kumar is now the agency's associate director for legislative affairs. He comes from the office of Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), where he spent the last two years as a legislative assistant.

Kumar has also worked for Rep. Randy Weber (R-Texas) and as a legislative and policy aide at HBW Resources, a consulting and lobbying firm.

A former Democratic House staffer is back on the Hill, now with lobbying experience.

Adam Axler comes from Akin Gump, where he spent the last four years. He's now Sen. Ed Markey's (R-Mass.) policy adviser on health and education issues.

Since his first stint on the Hill, working for ex-Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.), Axler has also registered as a lobbyist on finance and insurance issues through Brownstein Hyatt. He graduated from New York University's School of Law.

A GOP staffer is toasting to a new job off the Hill.

Sydney Fincher is now a manager of federal government affairs at Anheuser-Busch. The brewing giant has dropped nearly $5 million on federal lobbying in the last year.

Fischer comes from the Senate Judiciary’s Intellectual Property Subcommittee, where she served as a professional staff member under Chair Thom Tillis (R-N.C.). Before that, she worked for the senator’s personal office.

A former Army acting under secretary and long-time Hill staffer has made his lobbying debut.

Tom Hawley recently disclosed he's lobbying on behalf of AQYR Technologies through Hawley LLC, his one-man shop. He's working on defense-related technology and procurement issues for the New Hampshire-based satellite communications firm.

Hawley previously spent six years as Army deputy under secretary in addition to his time as acting under secretary. He left the Department of the Army in 2017, when he rejoined the House Armed Services Committee as a Republican staff member. He also worked for the committee beginning in 1997.