In the News

When the Democrats Take Back K Street

“Toby Moffett, a former Democratic Congressman from Connecticut now with the Livingston Group, says he recently told a Republican lobbyist desperate to hire Democrats that he had two options: ‘One is to go after [congressional] staff members who are thinking of leaving, maybe someone with tuitions to pay. The second is to overpay for people who weren't thinking of leaving’.

By Massimo Calabresi
Time magazine
December 5, 2006

Off K Street. The Livingston Group…announced an outside-the-Beltway expansion.

The firm has tapped Republican political strategist Terry Benham of the Little Rock, Ark.-based Impact Management Group to head a developing state and local government relations practice. Firm founder Livingston said client needs and trends in regulatory and legislative power have caused many firms to rethink their focus on state and local affairs.

"Often, federal issues are being influenced more at the state and local level than inside the beltway,” Livingston said. “It just made sense for us to reach out and be a part of that communication process.”

By Kate Ackley
Roll Call
August 14, 2006

Inside Connections
Former House Appropriations Committee aides cash in on access, expertise, and longtime relationships to lobby for clients

“‘Especially now (on the Hill), it’s everybody against the appropriators,’ said a former Appropriations aide. That feeling among both staff and members, combined with the need to produce legislation quickly has resulted in a committee whose operations are far more bipartisan than those of many other House panels. Rep. David Obey of Wisconsin…is fond of saying that appropriators could produce bills easily if House leaders in both parties simply left them alone.

“The bipartisanship was evident in the highly charged days after the Republicans won control of Congress in 1994. When then-Rep. Robert Livingston, R-La., became Appropriations chairman in 1995, he chose to retain…Democratic staffers…”

By David Baumann and Lisa Caruso
National Journal Magazine
May 24, 2006

Premium Placed on Lobbyists Who Served in Congress
"Former Rep. Bob Livingston, R-La., once chairman of the House Appropriations Committee … went on to create one of the most lucrative lobbying firms in Washington ... since it opened the same year he retired from Congress…”

“Livingston's firm helped protect $1 billion in aid to Turkey that was in jeopardy...”

Kelley Beaucar Vlahos
Fox News.com
March 20, 2006

Looking for Influence in All the Right Places
"So great is Mr. Livingston's sway inside Republican circles that he did not have to pick up the phone to contact Mr. Lewis (Chairman of House Appropriations Committee). Instead, Mr. Lewis has phoned him several times to talk about how Congress might best help the Gulf Coast, said John Scofield, a spokesman for the committee, ‘because the chairman sees him as someone who has a wealth of information and the institutional memory.’"

“In mid-September, Mr. Livingston sent an e-mail message on Mr. McDonald's behalf to a presidential aide, and by day's end Mr. McDonald was talking to a White House assistant.”

Gavin Rivlin
New York Times
October 18, 2005

“The Road to Riches Is Called K Street”
“The lobbying boom has been caused by three factors, experts say: rapid growth in government, Republican control of both the White House and Congress, and wide acceptance among corporations that they need to hire professional lobbyists to secure their share of federal benefits.

“Robert L. Livingston, a Republican former chairman of the House Appropriations Committee and now president of a thriving six-year-old lobbying firm said, ‘As government grows, unless you’re right there to limit it, it can intrude in just about any industry…There are agencies that love to do things and acquire new missions. People in the industry better have good lobbyists or they’re going to get rolled over.’“

By Jeffrey H. Birnbaum
Washington Post Staff Writer
June 22, 2005

Livingston Group Breaks into Top 10 Lobby List
“Another growing presence in Washington lobbying is the Livingston Group, which landed among the top 10 lobby shops for the first time since former Rep. and almost-House Speaker Robert Livingston opened for business in 1999…”

By Kate Ackerly
Influence
June 11, 2003

"Energy Firm Taps Washington Power for Offshore Project
"…thanks to a well-oiled and politically seasoned lobbying machine and a White House friendly to energy exploration, (ChevronTexaco Corp.) now is on the verge of scoring a legislative victory that could expedite the process.

"Once the Bush administration's pro-exploration report was issued, the company's lobbying operation kicked into gear with the help of one of the capital's most prominent insiders – former House Appropriations Committee Chairman Robert L. Livingston, Jr. R-La. (1977-99)."

By Peter Cohn, Staff Writer
Congressional Quarterly
March 29, 2002

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