Republicans take over K Street

Still, K Street apparently got the message to hire Republicans. Most of the recent new hires in the lobby shops along the K Street corridor, and especially the top ones, have been Republicans, many from the Bush administration and Capitol Hill. Last week, the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association hired former Rep. Steve Largent (R) of Oklahoma as its next president.

"For a short time in Washington [after 1995], there was this perception that... the invaders would be thrown out and the Democrats would be back in control. Now people have the sense that Republicans will control either the House or Senate for some time," says former Rep. Scott Klug (R) of Wisconsin, now with a Washington law firm.

Since 2000, only two Democratic members of Congress have jumped to K Street lobby shops, compared with 15 Republican members. Former Rep. Robert Livingston launched his own lobby shop, after exiting the House during the impeachment controversy in 1999. The Livingston Group is already ranked among the top 10 firms, according to Influence.biz, a Washington-based service that tracks the lobbying profession.

"I still shape and affect policy. The only thing I can't do that I used to do is vote," says Mr. Livingston, in his newly decorated suite of offices. The back of his business card notes that he was chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.

At least 160 former members of Congress are currently registered as lobbyists. As former members, they have special access to the floor of the Congress, the exclusive gym, dining rooms, and the most valuable perk on Capitol Hill: a parking space.

Some of the top Republicans in the 107th Congress are about to see their one-year statute of limitations on lobbying former congressional colleagues expire. These include former House majority leader Dick Armey and Republican Conference Chairman J. C. Watts of Oklahoma. Some say they expect to do much the same work they did in the Congress, but for a lot more money.

Mr. Watts has set up his own public affairs and lobbying practice with two former aides.

Mr. Armey, who championed small government as an architect of the Republican takeover of the House in 1994, is is now a senior policy adviser at Piper Rudnick, a top Washington law firm that logged $48.5 million in lobbying revenue last year. He still owns his signature 1989 Ford pickup but recently bought a new, top-of-the-line King Ranch truck and a new ranch in north Texas. "I was amazed at the courtship: Three law firms and a public relations firm, all of whom were talking [salary] numbers beyond what I had dared to dream," he says.

The reason a former GOP lawmaker is worth so much to a lobby shop is access. Armey notes that while he is still barred from lobbying Congress, he is working on issues with the Bush administration. "You can almost not find an agency in this government that does not have an Armey guy in it," he says, referring to former aides.

The tightening K Street connection will also enhance Republican efforts to recruit candidates and staff for Congress, insiders say. Says GOP activist Norquist: "We can go to young people at Harvard, Yale and U Mass and say ... 'We're not just offering you low paid service jobs. There's a rainbow at the end of the tunnel.' "

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