So many former GOP lawmakers want to be lobbyists there aren't enough jobs to go around

(Image credit: K.R. Chamberlain/iStock)

published 14 January 2019

Washington is infamous for its "revolving door," the habit of cycling the same people through elected office and federal bureaucracy, on one side of the door, and private positions including lobbying, consulting, and federal contracting, on the other. And with dozens of former lawmakers newly out of work thanks to 2018 election, the door is getting a lot of foot traffic these days, Politico reports.

"Former Republican congressmen are a dime a dozen right now," former Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.), who is now a lobbyist, told Politico. "I think there are still a lot of people who are scrambling and looking" for jobs where their erstwhile influence in Washington can be put to some use. But the glut of applicants exceeds the number of positions available on K Street, the city's traditional center for lobbyist offices.

Nevertheless, several former GOP lawmakers have already picked up lobbying work. Among them is former Rep. Tom Reynolds (R-N.Y.), who said "[t]here are more members who have retired who are looking at the prospect of K Street than I've seen in" 20 years. Those who served on powerful congressional committees with regulatory power over major corporations — like Ways and Means or Financial Services — have the best shot at landing a new gig.

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Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.

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