In a surprising turn of events, Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) has officially registered as a lobbyist. According to The Hill, “He is part of a team at Baker Donelson Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz that is lobbying for the health insurer Aetna, according to forms filed to the Senate. The disclosure forms say the the team will be working with the insurer — which recently withdrew from a major industry trade group, America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) — on issues related to the Affordable Care Act and Medicare Advantage, among other things.”
Prior to his registration as a lobbyist, the term the “Daschle loophole” has become popularized as a way to describe the ability of former officials to cash in on K Street without registering as lobbyists. Politico reports that this is done by either “avoiding direct contact with lawmakers or by spending less than 20 percent of their time lobbying. Daschle always maintained his activities didn’t qualify as lobbying, but those who worked with him said he didn’t want the “Scarlet L” to jeopardize his prospects of returning to public office. His nomination to be Obama’s health secretary was nevertheless thwarted by a tax error.”
Since losing his Senate seat in 2004, Daschle worked at “Alston & Bird, then DLA Piper, and, since late 2014, Baker Donelson, where he set up his own subsidiary, The Daschle Group,” according to The Center for Responsive Politics.
