Rep. Lynn Jenkins, R-Kan., is leaving Congress, but she’s not going very far. She is cashing out and turning to lobbying after a decade in Congress.
Unfortunately, this isn’t unusual: the career arc of many a politician runs from Capitol Hill through K Street. The difference is Jenkins isn’t waiting around. She announced the opening of her own lobbying shop with six weeks left as representative for the 2nd Congressional District of Kansas.
This gives Jenkins time to attract potential clientele during while still voting on issues of import.
Ethics laws prohibit Jenkins from making lobbying contacts for a year after leaving office. But she can still run a lobbying shop and supervise and employ lobbyists.
“This is an egregious abuse of the revolving door,” Craig Holman of Public Citizen told McClatchy, “I suspect she’s being coached as to how to dance around the law, but it certainly violates the spirit of the revolving door law itself.”
Jenkins has plenty of insider knowledge and plenty of connections as vice chairman of the Republican conference. All of this will come in handy the moment that by law Jenkins legally start haunting the hallways of Capitol Hill peddling special interest. Until then, the congresswoman will use a surrogate.
Jenkins all but advertised this loophole. In a Nov. 20 Facebook post, the congresswoman hung out her shingle so to speak making sure to note that her longtime chief of staff, Pat Leopold, would be following her through the revolving door. So while she can’t lobby Congress for a year, he can hit the ground running. Federal law only prohibits him from lobbying his old boss – since she’s leaving Congress, he can lobby anyone on the Hill on day one.
And of course, there are no restrictions on Jenkins’ lobbying on the state level. She plans on peddling influence in Kansas, and she can start in Topeka on day one.
No wonder everyone thinks D.C. is rigged in favor of the insiders.
