LegiStorm

Republican congressional staff have become lobbyists at higher rates than Democrats in recent years but the offices with the most revolving door action are mostly Democratic. 

Over 7,200 revolving door lobbyists have served in GOP offices since 2002, exceeding the number of Democratic revolvers by over 1,000. GOP revolvers are currently exceeding Democratic revolvers in 2024, with Republican offices employing nearly 56% of staffers that made the move to K Street and 62% of incoming staffers who made the leap from K Street to the Hill.

Despite Republicans employing the most revolvers since 2002, only three GOP members are amongst the top ten revolving door congressional employers still in office: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.)

Schumer claims the top spot for the most revolvers, 100, having employed nearly 34% more revolvers than the next highest senator, Collins, with 75 revolvers.

Notably, Menendez, who was recently found guilty of 16 felony counts, including accepting bribes and acting as a foreign agent, and will resign later this month, is also among the top ten revolving door employers, with 63 revolvers.

The ranking of top employers is affected by the number of years served in Congress, with members who have served the most terms since 2002 more likely to have employed a higher number of revolvers than those who have served fewer terms. However, Schumer has employed 64% more revolvers than his counterpart, McConnell, who had 61 revolvers. House member offices are comparatively smaller and so have fewer revolving door staff than Senate offices.

Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) experienced a wave of staff defections in the months leading up to his vice-presidential nomination, even while his rising star might have been seen as a ticket to a White House job.

From October 2023-June 2024, Vance's office saw a 0.41 staff turnover, far exceeding the average Senate staff turnover of 0.24 and placing his office in the 93rd percentile for highest turnover, according to LegiStorm's salary-weighted staff turnover index. 

Vance's staff turnover has greatly increased from the 0.06 turnover his office experienced for FY2023 (October 2022-September 2023), which placed him in the bottom 3rd percentile for staff turnover.

Although it is not uncommon for members of Congress to experience an increase in turnover following their first year in office, it is unusual to see such a drastic jump.

For example, during her time as a senator, presumed Democratic presidential nominee and current Vice President Kamala Harris' staff turnover only increased from 0.12 in FY2017 to 0.21 in FY2018. Similarly, Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), who has been floated as a potential running mate to Harris, had a staff turnover of 0.10 in FY2021 and saw a mere raise in turnover in FY2022 to 0.16.

It is also common for members to see an increase in turnover when they are campaigning as official staff go to work for the campaign. Harris' turnover rose to 0.42 in FY2019 and to 0.47 in FY2020 while she was campaigning for president and then as President Joe Biden's vice presidential pick. However, Vance's increase in staff turnover spans months before he was announced as former President Donald Trump's pick. 

LegiStorm analysis of staff turnover is weighted by salary. The departure of higher-paid staff, such as a chief of staff, will have a greater impact on the index than the departure of a lesser-paid staff. 

Longtime GOP Hill staffer Victoria Bloom is now chief economist at the National Association of Manufacturers.

Bloom has over six years of experience on the Hill and most recently served as an economist for Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee Ranking Member Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). She previously worked for Rep. Gary Palmer (R-Ala.) and Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.).

Bloom is the fifth former GOP congressional staffer that NAM has hired this year, bringing the total number of former GOP congressional staffers the trade association currently employs to 19. There are only four former Democratic staffers currently employed by the organization. 

Artificial intelligence is increasingly the subject that gets congressional staff to leave Washington.

In 2023, the number of trips listing AI as a purpose of travel in trip disclosures, approximately 80 trips, was over triple the amount of such trips in 2022, 24 trips. This year is already outpacing 2023 at 89 trips detailing AI as a purpose of travel and further such trips on the horizon. "More than two dozen Capitol Hill staffers" were reported to be traveling to Stanford University's Congressional Boot Camp on AI next month. 

Moreover, nearly $500,000 has been spent on privately financed congressional trips concerning artificial intelligence since the start of 2024, surpassing the amount spent on such travel in 2023 by over $350,000. 

The number of organizations involved in funding travel concerning AI has also increased since 2022. All trips from 2022 were attributed to Stanford's inaugural AI Boot Camp. While some trips in 2023 were to Stanford's annual boot camp, trips were sponsored by various organizations from different sectors, including the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society and Recording Industry Association of America.

Trips in 2024 that list AI as a purpose of travel have also included new sponsors, such as Microsoft Corp. and Global Women's Innovation Network. They have also moved to the international sphere, with trips to Dublin, Ireland, to participate in panels on AI and trips to Italy to learn about the impact of AI in education, health care and climate.

The Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 initiative to remake the executive branch will likely have a strong tailwind given the considerable influence the think tank has in Congress.

Nearly 30% of Republican members of Congress employ at least one former Heritage staffer, and this likely understates the number since it is based on LegiStorm's sometimes incomplete work histories for staff. The conservative think tank is the second most frequent organization to appear in current congressional staffers' employment histories - exceeded only by the Republican National Committee.

The Heritage Foundation has made frequent headlines recently for its Project 2025: A collection of policy proposals that would place federal agencies under more direct White House control and classify many federal civil service employees as political appointees if the Republican nominee wins the 2024 presidential election.

Currently, there are more legislative assistants in Congress that are Heritage Foundation alumni than alumni of any other organization. Other key staffers that were previously employed by the foundation include numerous chiefs of staff, communications directors and press secretaries.

Current congressional staff have a combined 143 years of experience working for the Heritage Foundation in the past.

The foundation has also demonstrated influence within Republican offices by sponsoring nearly 400 staff to take out-of-town trips since 2016, often for training.