It’s really an abuse of their positions.” Even though some may not actually become registered lobbyists, they’re all still hired for lobbying work. Firms are “hiring for their connections in Congress, to cash in on those connections on behalf of paying clients. “The revolving door is the most pernicious form of influence-peddling that we have not gotten control over yet,” Holman told the Observer. Several more have taken jobs and board positions at corporations, consulting firms, and industry trade groups. Since leaving office, the Observer found that four members have registered as lobbyists at the federal or state level, working for clients on matters that they were directly involved in while in Congress. Holeman’s own research found that trips through the revolving door hit a high point in 2019, when nearly 60 percent of the 44 members of Congress who left office went to work for entities that seek to influence the federal government. “Sadly, it’s not unusually high,” said Craig Holman, an ethics expert at federal government watchdog group Public Citizen, of Texas’ revolving door rate. Of the 15 members of the Texas congressional delegation who’ve left office since 2018, the Observer found that at least half have taken positions at lobbying and law firms, consulting firms, industry trade groups, and corporations that aim to influence federal policy in Washington or state policy in Austin. With a record number of Texas incumbents leaving Congress in recent years-either by choice or by the ballot box-the revolving door is spinning at a ferocious pace. But Vela is just the latest member of Congress from Texas to make that well-trodden trek. His future employer’s office is just a couple of miles from the Capitol on K Street, the notorious lobbying corridor. “The timing now, with just nine months left in the term-I’m just ready to go,” Vela told Forbes.
It wasn’t until a Forbes reporter unearthed Vela’s recusal that the congressman said he would resign in the next few weeks and go work for Akin Gump. Of its 66 registered lobbyists, 41 percent worked in the federal government-many as congressional staffers, including a former top aide to Vela who was hired last year. In January, he gave notice to the House Ethics Committee that-citing “negotiation or agreement regarding future employment”-he would recuse himself from any matter related to Akin Gump, which, as of last year, had more than 250 clients with lobbying contracts worth over $50 million, according to OpenSecrets. Vela, an outspoken moderate who was appointed vice chair of the Democratic National Committee by President Joe Biden, had apparently lined up the gig months ago. But last week, Vela made waves by saying he’ll resign his seat early to take a job with Akin Gump-one of the most well-connected lobbying and law firms in Washington, D.C. Faith leaders, environmental advocates, and families affected by wall construction.Brownsville Congressman Filemon Vela was already on his way out of office, having announced last year that he would not run again after five terms.Raul Garcia, Legislative Director for Healthy Communities, Earthjustice.Juan Mancias, Tribal Chairman, Carrizo / Comecrudo Nation of Texas.Ramiro Ramirez, plaintiff in litigation against Trump administration, caretaker for historic cemeteries Tricia Cortez, Executive Director, Rio Grande International Study Center.TrumpĮn español: Nacimos y Moriremos Aqui: La Lucha contra el Muro Fronterizo Details: Learn more about the Ramirez family’s story: Inside the Legal Case of Ramirez v. The sites are home to the final resting places of veterans from both World Wars, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. In mid-March, Earthjustice filed a lawsuit on behalf of an informal coalition of families, Tribal leaders, and environmental advocates along the border alleging “real and dire impacts for communities living along the border,” including potential exhumation and desecration of loved ones’ and veterans’ remains at the 154-year old Eli Jackson Cemetery and 145-year-old Jackson Ranch Church and Cemetery in Texas. Faith leaders from the United Methodist Church will join to discuss the historic Jackson Ranch Church and Cemetery, the first Protestant Church in the Rio Grande Valley and a current target for border wall construction.
Filemon Vela (TX-34) will hold a press conference alongside border community residents currently suing the Trump administration over its illegal attempts to construct border barriers using federal funds seized through an illegitimate declaration of national emergency.
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