Thursday, July 16, 2015

Can You Be A "Senior Advisor" To House Majority Leader Rep. Eric Cantor (R), AND Work For Williams & Jensen, PLLC -- As A PharmaCo Lobbyist?


Apparently so. Take a look at the penultimate page of that link. It was just filed with the US Senate office of disclosure -- under the Lobbying Disclosure Act -- this morning. Cheryl Jaeger is. . . "a shared employee, Office of the Speaker and Office of Virginia's Seventh Congressional District; Senior Policy Advisor, Majority Leader, Rep. Eric Cantor; Sr. Advisor, Majority Whip, Rep Roy Blunt; Prof. Staff House Committee on E&C; Sr LA to Rep. Christopher Cox. . . ."

I wouldn't have guessed that the applicable federal lobbying laws and regulations allowed this. Dual or "shared employees?" Really? I am no lobbyist regulatory lawyer, but it strikes me that allowing Williams & Jensen to lobby Congress, and Rep. Cantor, in particular, on behalf of Kenilworth, and others. . . isn't in the best interest of the citizenry -- or an open and transparent republic -- with the sole consent of the governed. Perhaps she is prevented (by rule) from lobbying any of the persons named above, directly. In any event, here is her bio -- from a coming Fall 2015 speaking engagement (presumably it is thus current, and correct) -- and yet no mention of the lobby-firm involvement. But the LD-2 filed by Williams & Jensen lists her. Odd.

. . . .Cheryl Jaeger is the senior health policy advisor to the Majority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives, Eric Cantor. In this role, She leads the advancement of health care reform legislation to improve patient choice, lower health care costs, and expand innovation. Jaeger previously served as a senior advisor to the former Majority Whip Roy Blunt. Prior to serving as a leadership aide, Jaeger worked as a professional staff member for the Committee on Energy and Commerce. She was the lead staff negotiator of the NIH Reform Act of 2006 in addition to several other pieces of legislation. Jaeger began her tenure on Capitol Hill nearly 14 years ago as a legislative aide to former Congressman Christopher Cox. Jaeger earned a Masters in Public Policy from Georgetown University and is a graduate of the University of Virginia. . . .


I'll have more on this -- when the rest of the quarterly federal LD-2 lobby reports are filed -- in the coming five days, but it sure doesn't smell. . . quite as fresh as a Summer rain, to me. . . .

Maybe someone in the readership better understands lobby lawyering here -- is this relatively common, across other industries? Am I just out of touch, on this issue?

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