Former White House and agency officials appear on dozens of new lobbying registrations

By Sofia Linwood

WASHINGTON — A former U.S. ambassador, a former assistant attorney general, a former chief of staff to the health secretary and at least eight former White House aides are among the lobbyists named on new federal lobbying registrations posted Oct. 19 through Oct. 23, an Inquisitor review of disclosure records found.

Lobbying firms and organizations posted 194 new registrations in that period, according to the Lobbying Disclosure Act database maintained by the Senate and House. Of those, 137 list at least one lobbyist with a prior “covered” government position, the category of senior executive branch and congressional jobs that the law requires registrants to disclose for 20 years. In all, the filings name 307 lobbyists, 210 of whom have a listed covered position.

Most of the covered positions are congressional staff jobs, such as chiefs of staff, legislative directors and committee aides. But at least 40 lobbyists on the week’s filings list executive branch service, and about two dozen held senior White House or agency posts, the review found. Those are listed in the table below as the registrants described them.

Registration is how the system is designed to work: the Lobbying Disclosure Act requires a firm to register within 45 days of first making a lobbying contact or being hired to make one, and to name each lobbyist and any covered position held in the previous 20 years, according to the congressional guidance on the law. A registration does not mean lobbying has started, and the filings do not report fees; those appear in quarterly reports.

The former officials

Several of the officials served in President Trump’s administrations, and some left government recently. Micah Ketchel, now at Ballard Partners, lists service in 2025 as a State Department senior adviser and as special assistant to the president and senior adviser to the national security adviser, after six years as chief of staff to then-Rep. Mike Waltz, according to his firm’s registration for Nerobreeze Limited, described as an investment firm. Samuel Scales, at the Duberstein Group, lists a 2025 post as senior adviser at the U.S. Trade Representative’s office on a registration for Abbott Laboratories.

Andrew Bremberg, who led the Domestic Policy Council in Trump’s first term before serving as ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, registered through his firm, Right Policy, to lobby on air traffic management for the law firm Baker Donelson on behalf of Thales USA, according to the filing. Kelly Ann Shaw, a former deputy assistant to the president for international economic affairs, is listed on Akin Gump’s registration for SpaceX, which covers “trade policy regarding space launch and AI services.”

A Cuba minerals deal

One registration ties directly to the administration’s Cuba policy. Judgment Premium Advisors registered to lobby for Gillon Capital, an investment fund, on “licenses, waivers and other policy and/or funding support relating to a potential acquisition of a foreign company that mines critical minerals in Cuba,” according to the filing, which lists an effective date of July 1. The lobbyist named is William Doffermyre, who lists posts as solicitor of the Interior Department, in the White House Office and as general counsel of the Overseas Private Investment Corp. Most U.S. transactions involving Cuba require authorization under the Cuban Assets Control Regulations, administered by Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.

Health care firms dominate one shop

Tarplin, Downs & Young, whose lobbyists include two former HHS legislative affairs officials, Jennifer Young and Raissa Downs, posted six new registrations, tied for the second most of any firm. Its new clients include Fresenius Medical Care and Tolmar on Medicare policy and Paradigm Health on clinical trial policy, according to the filings. Health issues and Medicare and Medicaid were the second- and fourth-most common issue areas across all registrations.

Defense was the most common issue area, listed on 38 of the 194 registrations, including filings for Hanwha Defense USA, General Dynamics and the Aerospace Industries Association, which hired Cornerstone Government Affairs on the fiscal 2027 National Defense Authorization Act, according to the filing. Checkmate Government Relations registered for the Panama Maritime Authority, one of the few government clients in the week’s filings.

One former member of Congress

Only one former lawmaker appears on the week’s registrations. Mercury Public Affairs listed former Rep. Cheri Bustos, an Illinois Democrat, on a registration for the World Dog Alliance, an animal welfare group, to work with House Democrats on a resolution calling for a ban on the human consumption of dog meat in Asian countries. The filing lists her covered position as “2013-2023 US Senator”; Bustos served in the House, representing Illinois’s 17th District, according to her congressional biography.

About this analysis

The Inquisitor downloaded every registration (filing type RR) posted to the LDA database between 8:47 a.m. ET on Oct. 19 and 2:39 p.m. ET on Oct. 23, the most recent posted when the data were retrieved Sunday. Counts of executive branch alumni are based on a keyword review of the covered-position field and were checked by hand; the field is filled in by registrants and is not independently verified by the Senate or House. Job titles in the table are abridged from the filings. Registrations posted Oct. 22 and Oct. 23 totaled 20, fewer than earlier in the week, and more filings for that period may still be processed.

The Inquisitor is seeking comment from Right Policy, Valcour, Delta Strategy Group, Horizons Global Solutions, Judgment Premium Advisors, S-3 Group and FGS Global at the contact addresses listed on their filings. Ballard Partners, Akin Gump, Navigators Global and Mercury Public Affairs were already contacted by the Inquisitor today on other matters. This story will be updated with any response.