Shadow Congress

Shadow Congress: Nearly 200 Ex-Lawmakers Work For Lobbying Shops

Ryan J. Reilly | June 14, 2011, 5:45AM

With historic numbers of congressional Democrats thrown out of office in the 2010 midterms, the stage was set for another surge of ex-lawmakers to go through the revolving door into the lobbying business. So we figured it was time to update our ongoing "Shadow Congress" project in which we chart state-by-state which former lawmakers are now lobbying.

With the addition of recently defeated lawmakers, there are now at least 195 former lawmakers cashing in on their public service, according to an updated list compiled by TPM. That's up from 172 the last time we checked.

Check out the members of this so-called "Shadow Congress" on our updated interactive chart.

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Topics: Lobbyists, Shadow Congress

Shadow Congress

SHADOW CONGRESS: More Than 170 Former Lawmakers Ply The Corridors Of Power As Lobbyists

Justin Elliott and Zachary Roth | June 1, 2010, 8:41AM

It's not exactly breaking news that Washington is stuffed to the gills with lobbyists. One good government group recently tallied 8 lobbyists for every member of Congress during the health-care reform debate. But what doesn't get as much attention is that, over the last few decades, a vast army of what might be called uber-lobbyists has taken shape in the capital, made up of retiring lawmakers eager to cash in on K Street after a lifetime of making do with public sector salaries.

We've compiled a close-to-comprehensive list of former members of Congress currently working on behalf of private interests in Washington's influence-peddling industry. We count 172 of them -- almost one-third the number of current members of Congress.

See an interactive graphic of the Shadow Congress here.

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Topics: Bill Zeliff, Bob Dole, George Hochbrueckner, K Street, Lobbyists, Shadow Congress, Tom DeLay