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Pelosi’s Policy Director to Step Down

Updated: 7:35 p.m.Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced Monday that Amy Rosenbaum, her policy director for the past four years, will step down in August.Rosenbaum, who will stay on through the fall as an adviser on health care reform legislation, will be replaced by Richard Meltzer, a former longtime House staffer with domestic and foreign policy experience. Most recently, Meltzer was a principal with the law firm Ernst & Young in Washington, D.C.Pelosi praised Rosenbaum for her work on clean energy jobs legislation and health insurance reform. “I am delighted that she has agreed to remain as an adviser on this critical legislation until it is signed into law,— Pelosi said in a statement.Meltzer earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Rochester and a law degree from Northwestern University.Democratic leadership aides weighed in on Rosenbaum’s tenure in the House.“Amy is very well-respected by staff and Members. She has an enviable reach in the Caucus and breadth of policy knowledge. She will do great in whatever she decides to do next,— said Stacey Bernards, deputy chief of staff to House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.).Meltzer, who also served temporarily as Pelosi’s transition coordinator when Democrats reclaimed the majority in the 2006 midterm elections, has helped Washington Council reel in millions of dollars lobbying for a long roster of interests.Among the firm’s clients are a number with stakes in the ongoing debates over climate change, financial regulations and health care. This year alone, Meltzer is listed in Senate disclosure records as lobbying for a slew of energy interests (the American Public Gas Association, the Biomass Power Association, Climax Global Energy, Exxon Mobil Corp. and the National Hydropower Association, among others), financial services firms (including Charles Schwab & Co. Inc., Citigroup Management Corp., Fortress Investment Group and Pacific Capital Bancorp) and health care interests (the Biotechnology Industry Organization, Johnson & Johnson, the National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems, and the Health Care Service Corp.).Pelosi spokesman Brendan Daly said the Speaker tapped Meltzer for his knowledge of process and policy as a veteran staffer. As for whether Meltzer’s lobbying work would influence him in his new role, Daly said, “The positions of the Speaker are very clear and not in agreement with what his clients wanted. And that won’t change.—

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