At least 19 senior aides for the House Democratic leadership and committee staffs left lucrative K Street jobs to work for the new House majority this year, and some of them now have direct jurisdiction over the industry or interest group they represented, according to an analysis of lobbying and financial disclosure records.
Two senior aides for the Energy and Commerce panel, staff director Dennis Fitzgibbons and general counsel Gregg Rothschild, said they jumped at the chance to leave K Street and return to Capitol Hill and help steer the Democratic agenda.
When Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.), the elder statesmen and chairman of the panel, approached them, Fitzgibbons and Rothschild readily agreed, citing a desire to rebuild the majority and effect real change.“It says more about John Dingell than it says about me,” Fitzgibbons said, explaining his move from a $464,270-a-year lobbying job for DaimlerChrysler back to the committee. “It’s intellectually challenging. There’s never a day that I don’t learn something new.”
When Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.), the elder statesmen and chairman of the panel, approached them, Fitzgibbons and Rothschild readily agreed, citing a desire to rebuild the majority and effect real change.“It says more about John Dingell than it says about me,” Fitzgibbons said, explaining his move from a $464,270-a-year lobbying job for DaimlerChrysler back to the committee. “It’s intellectually challenging. There’s never a day that I don’t learn something new.”
Rothschild said he left his annual $240,000 salary at Verizon Communications to return to Capitol Hill simply because Dingell asked.
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