Joe Manchin’s former aides lobby Congress for oil, gas, pharma giants

Sen. Joe Manchin has been working to shrink or eliminate key elements of President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party’s massive social spending and climate proposal as several of his former advisors lobby Congress for their corporate clients.

Manchin, the moderate West Virginia Democrat, has at least six former aides and advisors lobbying members of Congress, including senators, for power players in industries such as coal, pharmaceuticals, oil and gas, tobacco, and finance, according to more than two dozen filings to Congress.

The lobbying disclosure reports reviewed by CNBC span the third quarter, which started in July and concluded at the end of September.

Manchin, who is also the chair of the Senate Energy Committee, has been fighting pieces of the now-$1.75 trillion social spending and climate plan that Biden supports. If passed by Congress, many pieces of that plan could significantly impact the companies that his former aides are lobbying for.

Democrats on Tuesday overcame one of their biggest hurdles, as they reached a breakthrough agreement on lowering prescription drug prices.

The lobbying disclosure reports do not say whether Manchin or his office have been directly targeted by his former advisors. Yet one of lobbyists, Jonathan Kott, has said publicly that he has privately called the West Virginia senator. Manchin has said that Larry Puccio, another former advisor currently lobbying the Senate, is a “dear friend.”

At least two lobbyists who used to work for Manchin are barred from engaging directly with him or his office, as Senate rules say former staffers must wait a year after leaving a congressional office before lobbying their former colleagues. As long as they didn’t hit a certain salary threshold while working in Congress, they are allowed to lobby other members of the Senate.

Neither Manchin’s office nor any of the lobbyists mentioned in this story returned requests for comment before publication.

Kott, Manchin’s senior advisor and communications director for seven years, now works for lobbying giant Capitol Counsel. Kott started lobbying for gas giant ExxonMobil in the third quarter after he was hired by Capitol Counsel in June 2021, according to lobbying disclosures.

Kott and his colleagues at the firm were paid $10,000 by Exxon to lobby the House and Senate, which included activities such as “monitoring legislation impacting energy development and production” and lobbying on “issues related to tax reform, energy taxes and taxation of U.S. multinational corporations.”

Kott has said he knows how to get in touch with Manchin. “I try not to call him because he’s a busy man but I know he’s available when needed,” Kott told The Washington Post in September.

Exxon’s lobbying efforts against Biden’s agenda have included a more than $275,000 Facebook ad campaign targeting tax hikes Democrats have proposed. Exxon’s CEO Darren Woods told progressive House lawmaker Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., during a recent hearing that he has…