GOP Ex-Rep. Comstock Registers to Lobby for Treatment Centers

Former Rep. Barbara Comstock registered her first two lobbying clients since leaving Capitol Hill for K Street at the start of 2019.

The Virginia Republican, who was unseated by a Democrat in the 2018 election and now works at Baker Donelson, signed on to advocate on behalf of two Florida-based addiction treatment centers, Transformations Treatment Center and Summit Detox.

She and Jennifer Summa, who worked for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services during the George W. Bush administration, will advocate on policies related to “[Veterans Affairs] VA health issues,” according to disclosures recently received by the Senate. Both facilities feature veteran-specific programs, according to their websites.

Comstock, who was a lobbyist prior to serving in elected office, did not immediately return a request for additional details about the work.

Photo by Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

Former Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-Va.) attends an October 2018 White House event on the opioid crisis.

She is among roughly a dozen former lawmakers who have registered to lobby since 2019. Former House members must wait one year after leaving office before they’re able to lobby their former colleagues, and ethics rules require former senators to abide by a two-year “cooling-off” period. However, former lawmakers from either chamber are able to lobby the Executive Branch immediately.

Former Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) filed his first lobbying disclosure forms last week, and will be working for Linear Therapies, Inc. on issues related to “a cure for Covid-19 and other diseases,” according to disclosures. In March, former Rep. Kevin Yoder (R-Kan.) signed his first three advocacy clients, including a tech industry group for companies like Facebook Inc. and a coalition pushing for a controversial visa program.

Read More:Ex-Kansas Rep. Yoder Lobbying on Tech, Travel and Investor Visa

Former Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) and former Reps. Dave Reichert (R-Wash.) and Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.) have joined lobbying firms since leaving Congress last year, but haven’t registered to lobby.

To contact the reporter on this story: Megan R. Wilson in Washington at mwilson@bgov.com

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Kyle Trygstad at ktrygstad@bgov.com; Bennett Roth at broth@bgov.com