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100 Former US Lawmakers Registered as Foreign Lobbyists Since 2000

A Quincy Institute analysis revealed that 100 former members of Congress have worked as lobbyists for foreign governments since 2000, with most serving authoritarian regimes. The report highlighted cases involving Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and other nations, noting their influence on US policy. Critics called for restrictions on such lobbying to prevent conflicts of interest.

100 Former US Lawmakers Registered as Foreign Lobbyists Since 2000

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The majority, 85 percent, have lobbied for regimes rated as not free or partially free by Freedom House. Top employers include Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Kazakhstan, Libya, Qatar, Russia, and China, with South Korea and Taiwan as the only free-rated nations in the top ten.

The report detailed specific examples of former lawmakers' involvement in foreign lobbying. Former Sen. Norm Coleman, now a lobbyist for Saudi Arabia through Hogan Lovells, testified at Pete Hegseth's confirmation hearing for secretary of defense without disclosing his ties.

Coleman, who received compensation from the firm that earned $3 million from the Saudi Embassy in the prior year, praised Hegseth and criticized the Biden administration's handling of Yemen's Houthis.

Notable Cases and Clients Former Rep.

Ed Royce, who chaired the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has lobbied for 10 countries, including Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. In 2017, while in Congress, Royce used talking points from a Saudi lobbying firm during arguments against ending US support for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen.

After leaving office in 2019, he joined Brownstein, which earned $1.8 million from Saudi Arabia that year, and began direct lobbying after the one-year cooling-off period. Former Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, another former House Foreign Affairs Committee chair, lobbies for the United Arab Emirates.

She hosted a US-UAE business reception in Miami in January, promoting opportunities with UAE diplomats and trade officials. Ros-Lehtinen stated in a Justice Department filing that she shifted from skepticism to appreciation of the UAE's importance to US interests.

“Yes, Pete Hegseth is an out of the box nominee. I say it's high time to get out of the box." — Norm Coleman, during Pete Hegseth's confirmation hearing (Responsible Statecraft). Former Gov. and Rep. Rod Blagojevich, pardoned by President Donald Trump in 2020 after corruption convictions, now lobbies for Republika Srpska, a Serb-controlled entity in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Blagojevich has published articles in the Washington Times and Daily Caller on behalf of his client, without disclosures of his paid status in those publications. Former Sen. Robert Torricelli, who served on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, founded Rosemont Associates and has received $2.7 million from the National Council of Resistance of Iran since 2013. At a recent conference, Torricelli advocated for the NCRI and its leader Maryam Rajavi as a framework for a provisional government in Iran, following the group's delisting as a foreign terrorist organization.”