The board overseeing the $6 billion Dulles Rail project hired two former board members to act as lobbyists even though the authority already has two full-time staff members handling its government relations, The Washington Examiner has learned.

Former state Sen. Robert Calhoun earned between $24,000 and $49,000 a year to work as a lobbyist for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority between 2006 and 2011, earning a total of $175,000 from a board on which he once served, his lobbyist disclosure forms show. Calhoun, who provides “professional government relations, legal and consulting services” primarily at the state level, is expected to earn another $28,500 this year, the authority said.