U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse wants to keep former members of Congress away from one of their favorite post-public service gigs: lobbying Congress.
A bill the Lafayette Democrat introduced earlier this month with U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, would impose a lifetime ban on lobbying for former members of Congress, a six-year ban on lobbying for senior congressional staffers and a six-year ban on congressional offices hiring lobbyists they’ve worked with closely.
It would also require the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate to maintain a public database of lobbyists and more than double the current penalty for violating lobbying disclosure laws.
The measure is the latest collaboration between the two progressives who have teamed up in the past, albeit unsuccessfully, on bills to prohibit members of Congress and their family members from trading stocks.
Other members of Congress, including Colorado’s Democratic U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, have previously proposed similar unsuccessful measures banning members of Congress from lobbying.
Some Republicans, including then-U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner of Colorado, have backed the proposals before. But no Republicans are currently signed on to the Neguse bill, making passage unlikely in the Republican-controlled Congress.
The ban, should it somehow pass, would leave some former members of Congress from Colorado unemployed.
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Data compiled by Open Secrets, a government transparency nonprofit, shows at least three of the 13 former members of Congress from Colorado who left Washington since 2009 have worked as lobbyists or at lobbying firms since their departures.
At least six others who departed before then have worked in the lobbying world, too, according to Open Secrets.
Lobbying firms often seek out former members of Congress to join their ranks in hopes that they can use their inside knowledge to sway current members on behalf of clients.
Former Colorado senators and reps have worked on behalf of all kinds of interest groups.
This year, former U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter, a Democrat who represented the northern and western suburbs of Denver in Congress from 2007 to 2023, is lobbying on behalf of seven clients through his firm, Holland & Knight, according to Open Secrets. His clients include real estate companies, a chemical company, a battery company, a cannabis association, Denver Health and Colorado School of Mines.
Former U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard, a Republican who served from 1997 to 2009, is the vice president of government relations at the American Motorcyclist Association and has lobbied for other groups, including the American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges, according to Open Secrets.
Former U.S. Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, who changed his party affiliation to Republican from Democrat during his 12 years in Congress beginning in 1993, has his own consulting firm and has lobbied on behalf of the Indian Gaming Association, according to Open Secrets. Former U.S. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, a Republican who served from 2003 to 2009, is the vice president of government affairs at the Susan B Anthony List organization. And former U.S. Sen. Timothy Wirth, a Democrat who served from 1987 to 1993, is a board member of the United Nations Foundation and has lobbied for the Better World Fund, which supports UN causes.
Former U.S. Reps. Scott McInnis, a Republican, has in the past lobbied for the Anschutz Corporation, mining companies, the American Red Cross, and other groups with the firm Hogan & Hartson, according to Open Secrets..
Former U.S. Sens. Gardner and Ken Salazar, a Democrat, and U.S. Rep. David Skaggs, a Democrat, have worked for lobbying firms. But none of the three have been registered as lobbyists.
Gardner, who served for one term from 2015 to 2021, is on the board of advisers at Michael Best Strategies LLC, a lobbying firm that represents clients from many different industries. Salazar is back at WilmerHale, a lobbying and law firm, after serving as ambassador to Mexico, and Skaggs has worked at several lobbying firms, according to Open Secrets.
Gardner and Perlmutter, the two most recent departures from the Colorado delegation who are working as lobbyists or at lobbying firms, did not respond to requests for comment.
McInnis said he’s against a lifetime ban on lobbying for former members of Congress.
“Seems kind of a punishment for serving your country,” he said. “I would consider timeouts before lifetime bans.”
McInnis, who said he works mostly in private business now after years of lobbying and then serving on the Mesa county commission, is proudest of lobbying for Anschutz Medical Center. Still, he sees the need for guardrails.
“It’s reasonable that if you’re a former congressman on the defense committee, you can’t be a lobbyist for Russia,” he said.
Neguse’s spokesperson did not make him available for an interview about the bill. In a statement when he debuted the bill, the congressman said “we must clean up government for future generations and ensure our government is serving the American people, not special interests.”
Former Colorado GOP Chairman Dick Wadhams, who ran the organization from 2007 to 2011, also said he favors stricter reporting requirements and increased penalties for rulebreakers, but isn’t on board with a lifetime ban.
“I don’t see the evil nature of this,” said. “This is a feel-good bill. It’s trying to solve a problem that does not exist.”
Untangling Congress from former member lobbyists may be more difficult than it seems. Open Secrets data shows 79 donors to Neguse in the 2024 election cycle that both lobby and have former members as lobbyists. Among the largest donors were lobbying and law firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck; the credit union trade association America’s Credit Unions; and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association.