LegiStorm

As Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) butts heads with the administration over natural gas, he's added an industry lobbyist to his Energy and Natural Resources Committee team.

C.J. Osman comes from the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America, where he was vice president for government affairs. He was trade group's main in-house lobbyist. Osman is now a professional staff member and is the committee's Democratic lead on, among other issues, natural gas and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Manchin has recently crossed swords with FERC over natural gas, earlier this month calling for agency chair Richard Glick to "do [his] damn job" by approving natural-gas pipline permits. Manchin has since praised the agency for walking back some of its pipeline rules. Glick, a Biden appointee, has "perhaps the most far-reaching agenda of any leader ever at the commission," according to a recent Politico characterization of his climate-change policies.

Taxation reigns as the top issue for Washington lobbyists. But that wasn't the case as recently as a few months ago, according to a new LegiStorm analysis of lobbying data.

For eight consecutive quarters, lobbying groups had spent more on health care than any other legislative issue - until last year's fourth quarter, when lobbying groups spent an estimated $102.9 million to lobby on tax issues. Groups spent another $96.9 million on health-care issues the same time period. Other top lobbying issues by estimated spending include budget/appropriations, Medicare/Medicaid, defense, trade, energy/nuclear, finance, transportation and telecommunications.

While lobbying groups may shell out the most for tax lobbying, other legislative issues are growing even faster in their lobbying demand. Energy and nuclear issues grew by 415 percent from 2020 Q4 to 2021 Q4. Chemicals, air-and-water quality and Medicare/Medicaid also each saw growth of at least 164 percent.

Facebook was the top recipient of U.S. House dollars among the five Big Tech companies last year, according to LegiStorm spending data.

Facebook, via its parent company Meta Platforms Inc., ranked 16th among all vendors, with $609,000 worth of expenses. Coming in a close second among the Big Tech companies, and ranking 17th among all vendors, was Amazon, receiving more than $550,000 from 310 House offices.

The Facebook expenditures all went toward purchasing advertisements, with House Democrats leading the chamber in expenses, spending nearly $348,000 - a third more than Republicans' $261,000. 

Under House rules, members are allowed to use official funds to purchase ads on their official social media accounts, as long as the content in the ads relates to "official Congressional business" as defined by House rules. Among other things, this may include linking to a member's official newsletter, inviting individuals to like the member's official Facebook page, promoting a piece of legislation or promoting a town hall meeting.

Among the 119 members who purchased ads, there were 70 Democrats and 49 Republicans. The average amount spent by offices was around $5,000.

The top spender was Rep. Josh Harder (D-Calif.), who spent more than $45,000 over 97 unique transactions.  

Just behind Harder was Jake LaTurner (R-Kan.), who spent more than $40,000 over 47 unique transactions.

Rounding out the remainder of the top 10 spenders in order are Reps. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-Wash.), Diana Harshbarger (R-Tenn.), Tom O'Halleran (D-Ariz.), Ronny Jackson (R-Texas), Blake Moore (R-Utah), Colin Allred (D-Texas) and Sharice Davids (D-Kan.).

Last year's rumored staff exodus was more than just speculation: According to LegiStorm data, House staffers left their jobs at the highest rate in at least two decades.

House turnover has crept upward since about 2009, but the pandemic and Capitol insurrection pushed far more staffers than usual to leave their jobs in 2021 - 55 percent more than in the preceding year. Last year's rates mark the House's highest turnover since at least 2001, the first full year of LegiStorm's salary data.

House Democrats were overall poorer at retaining staff and lost workers at a 24 percent higher rate than Republicans. Democratic staffers have been at the forefront of a recent push for staffer unionization.

Still, it was two Republicans who led the House in the highest turnover rates. Then-Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), who resigned his seat in January to lead the Trump Media & Technology Group, lost left at nearly five times the House average. Fellow Republican Victoria Spartz (Ind.) came in second, with about 3.5 times average.

Reps. Nanette Barragán (D-Calif.), Sean Casten (D-Ill.), Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.), Pat Fallon (R-Texas), Ken Buck (R-Colo.), Debbie Lesko (R-Ariz.), Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) and Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) rounded out the rest of the ten worst.

LegiStorm's staff turnover index is salary-weighted, meaning that the departure of a higher-paid staffer, such as a chief of staff, will count proportionately more than that of a staff assistant or other lower-paid staffer. LegiStorm considers only full-time, non-temporary staff and excludes all interns and fellows. 

LegiStorm is unable to analyze current Senate turnover due to a delay in the Report of the Secretary of the Senate. The Secretary of the Senate was required by law to publish its most recent by November 2021 and has not yet done so.

After working for three Midwestern Democrats, a House staffer has moved to one of the country's biggest and most influential unions.

Megan Salrin joined United Steelworkers this month as a legislative representative. She comes from the office of Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), where she was a legislative assistant. Salrin has also worked for Rep. Frank Mrvan (D-Ind.) and then-Rep. Pete Visclosky (D-Ind.).

United Steelworkers spent $1.26 million on its federal lobbying program last year. The union's PAC gave almost $92,000 to congressional candidates, virtually all Democrats, last cycle. The PAC donates $5,000 to Kaptur's campaign most years, according to Federal Election Commission data.