Murtha nephew gets Marine Corps. position

The nephew of Rep. Jack Murtha (D-Pa.) has been appointed legislative liaison for the U.S. Marine Corps, a position in which he'll lobby Congress on the corps' behalf.

The announcement undoubtedly raises some eyebrows. The elder Murtha is Chairman of the subcommittee in charge of defense appropriations and thus has a huge amount of influence over the Marine Corps budget. The NY Times also reports that the two Murthas now live in the same apartment complex in Arlington.

More from the Times:

Mr. Murtha is not the only congressman with relatives who have interests before the lawmaker's office. Representative David R. Obey, for example, the Wisconsin Democrat who heads the House Appropriations Committee, has a son who works for a national parks advocacy group. And the committee's senior Republican, Representative Jerry Lewis of California, has a brother in the government relations office of Loma Linda University, which often benefits from the special provisions known as earmarks that Mr. Lewis inserts into legislation.

Nor is Colonel Murtha the first member of the Murtha family to be in a position to profit from his uncle's influence. The congressman earmarked millions of federal dollars to an institution in his district, St. Vincent College, while the Rev. John F. Murtha, his cousin, was its president. He has directed millions more in earmarks to clients of a firm, KSA Consulting, where until about three years ago his younger brother, Robert Murtha, known as Kit, worked as a lobbyist.

---