LegiStorm

A former Mercury Public Affairs lobbyist has returned to the House's South Carolina delegation.

Graham Haile started this week as Rep. Nancy Mace's (R-S.C.) deputy chief of staff and legislative director. He replaces Daniel Hanlon, who was promoted to chief of staff.

Haile worked for then-Reps. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.) and Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) before leaving for Mercury in 2017. At Mercury, where he was a senior vice president, he lobbied mainly on economic and other financial issues.

Who was more scared to face voters in 2021? According to LegiStorm data, congressional Republicans held far fewer town halls than Democrats but did so more often in person. Both parties are less likely to brave constituents than before the pandemic.

Democrats held 1,307 in-person and virtual town halls last year - 52 percent more than the 864 that Republicans hosted.

Republicans were particularly town-hall shy in the year's first quarter, at a time when Democrats were eager to tour their COVID stimulus victories and held more than triple the town halls of Republicans. Democrats have since lost some of that edge and ended the year with only 31 percent more than the GOP in the last quarter.

Both parties ended the year behind their 2019 town hall counts: Democrats held 20 percent fewer town halls in 2021, while Republicans held 25 percent fewer.

In-person events made up more than half of GOP town halls for the year. Democrats held only 14 percent of their town halls in person, instead favoring virtual events held by telephone, Facebook and other online methods.

A congressionally chartered nonprofit that provides live entertainment and other services to military members and their families has added a former Democratic Senate staffer to its arsenal.

Clinton Cowan joined the United Service Organizations this month as a government-relations and external-affairs manager. USO spends about $160,000 a year to lobby on defense issues.

Cowan most recently served as a legislative assistant to then-Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.). Cowan joined Udall's office in 2014 and worked there until the senator's retirement at the end of last term.

Representatives continue to spend the smallest proportions of their budgets in years. That's good news for taxpayers — but not necessarily for Congress.

The average representative spent 60 percent of their official office budget by the third quarter's end, according to LegiStorm data. That number has trended downward since at least 2016, when members spent 66 percent of their allowances in the same time period.

If members continue at their current pace, the average office will end this year with 20 percent of their annual budgets unspent. That's an average of more than $300,000 per office.

There's a tradeoff to ending the year with a large budget surplus. Any unspent money at year's end is returned to the U.S. Treasury. But as much of Congress complains that it's hemorrhaging staff, those are funds that could have gone toward higher staffer pay in an effort to attract and retain talent.

For the first time in at least six years, no members were on track to overspent their annual office budgets at the end of the third quarter. The highest spender so far this year is Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.), whose office used more than 72 percent of its funds in nine months. Reps. Ann Kuster (D-N.H.), Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) and Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) also each spent more than 71 percent of their budgets.

If a member office overspends its budget for the year, that member is personally responsible for repaying the debt — a scenario that hasn't happened in at least a decade.

Dr. Mehmet Oz (R) has turned to a House chief to lead his controversial Senate bid.

Casey Contres's new gig as Oz's campaign manager follows almost a year of experience as chief of staff to freshman Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas).

Oz, a physician and television personality, has drawn ample controversy for promoting unproven medical practices and supplements. He's running to replace retiring Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.).

This isn't Contres's first time taking the reins on a noteworthy campaign. In 2020, he took the lead on then-Sen. Cory Gardner's (R-Colo.) unsuccessful reelection bid. Contres has also served as Gardner's Senate press secretary and worked for then-Reps. Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) and Tim Murphy (R-Pa.).