If you’re a Capitol Hill staffer eyeing a K Street gig — and let’s face it, who isn’t? — you might want to avoid Rep. Phil Gingrey’s advice when it comes to salary expectations. The Georgia Republican, like a lot of people on the Hill, seems to hold unrealistic ideas about compensation downtown. Aides in their mid-30s “can just go to K Street and make $500,000 a year. Meanwhile I’m stuck here making $172,000,” Gingrey scoffed during a private meeting amid debate over Obamacare subsidies for Hill staff, according to a report. Gingrey seems to have unrealistic salary expectations for Hill aides going to K Street. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo) In fact, it's the rare congressional aide who can decamp for a lobbying job and command half a million dollars a year in compensation. And in the current K Street economy, hiring managers get jittery at the prospect of bringing on new employees who don’t come with a book of client business and a record of getting paid to effectively persuade. (more…)
