Personnel Notes

BGR Government Affairs has hired Erskine Wells, the deputy chief of staff to Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.).

A former top Republican appropriations staffer has found a new home on K Street.

Jim Dyer will start with the Podesta Group on Monday as senior strategist, the firm announced Thursday. Dyer will leave Clark & Weinstock, where he heads the appropriations practice.

"It’s expanded responsibility … and expanded opportunity," Dyer told The Hill of the job switch. "While I’m an older guy, I’m not that old, and I’m still looking forward to new challenges."

The significant Republican addition reflects the Podesta Group's efforts over the last year to burnish its bipartisan credentials. The firm has been known for its ties to Democrats, but has hired a number of Republican staffers this year.

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) warned Tuesday that if the Treasury secretary quits anytime soon, his position might remain unfilled.

There have been reports that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner would leave after a deal was reached to raise the nation's debt ceiling.

Warner said Geithner's post would be in danger of staying unfilled thanks to a trend of appointment confirmations stalled in Senate committees.

"Since at this point all of the nominees ... are put on hold by some of my Republican colleagues, I'm not sure we'd get to a Treasury secretary confirmation," he said on MSNBC. "Which isn't the way a government should work ... [we should] vote a guy up or down; don't leave him hanging."

Warner said he hoped that Geithner would remain in his position for the foreseeable future. "I think Secretary Geithner has navigated some very tough challenges."

In an interview with ABC's "Good Morning America" Tuesday, Geithner dodged questions about whether he would leave his post now that the deal is done.

"I've been a little busy. I haven't had a ton of time to think about that," he said.

"I'll make that decision at the right moment," he noted.

Geithner had harsh words for the behavior of Congress during the debt-ceiling negotiations, but he also indicated that he approved of the deal passed by the House on Monday evening.

"This is a good result, but a terrible process," he said. "Confidence in the United States was absolutely damaged by this spectacle that they've seen here in Washington."

Although members of Congress might be breathing a sigh of relief at having the debt-ceiling vote behind them — the Senate is expected to pass the bill by Tuesday afternoon — Geithner isn't counting on fewer challenges ahead for the administration.

He said the near-term cuts included in the deal are modest enough that they will not hurt the already slow economic recovery. But he could not guarantee that the threat of a downgraded U.S. credit rating had been averted by the last-minute deal.

"This is in some ways a judgment on the capacity of Congress to act," Geithner said.

Gary Locke formally resigned as Commerce secretary Monday to become the first Chinese-American to serve as U.S. ambassador to China. 

The Senate confirmed Locke on Wednesday after more than two years at the helm of the Commerce Department. He replaces Republican Jon Huntsman, who has entered the race for the Republican presidential nomination. Locke previously served as governor of Washington for two terms.

During his tenure at Commerce, Locke has been primarily focused on boosting U.S. exports, particularly to emerging Asian powers China and India. He heads to Beijing at a time when concerns over the U.S. deficit have added tension to the increasingly intertwined economic relationship between the two nations.

“From Asia to South America to Ohio and Iowa, I have met with foreign leaders, CEOs, inventors and small business owners. Throughout my travels, I have seen the worldwide appeal of American products and the ingenuity of the American people," Locke said.

The K Street firm Van Scoyoc Associates has hired Gen. James Jones to lead a new advisory board. 

Jones, a former Marine who served as national security adviser to President Obama, will not register to lobby for Van Scoyoc, the firm said. He will instead head up the advisory panel, which was established to assist and counsel Van Scoyoc Companies about “strategic planning,” business options and client-service enhancements, the firm said.

Van Scoyoc also named Arthur Culvahouse Jr. and Mary Howell to the board. Culvahouse is a former White House counsel to President Reagan and is chair of the international law firm O’Melveny & Myers. Howell is the former executive vice president of Textron Inc.

The number of former lobbyists working for lawmakers more than doubled between the 111th and 112th Congresses, according to a study released Wednesday.

The 112th Congress employs 128 former lobbyists in significant staff positions, up from 60 in the last Congress, according to data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics.

Of the former lobbyists currently employed in significant positions on Capitol Hill, the Center found more staff working for Republicans and many working in some capacity for committees they used to interact with as lobbyists.

Jack Quinn, co-founder and chairman of Quinn Gillespie & Associates, has joined the board of directors for Xe Services.

Former Rep. Baron Hill (D-Ind.) has a joined a major public relations and lobby firm.

Hill will be a senior vice president in APCO Worldwide’s government relations practice and a member of the firm’s international advisory council.

“Baron brings fresh insights from one of the most pivotal recent congressional sessions,” Robert Schooling, APCO’s president of its Americas division, said in a statement. “He has engaged firsthand in health care policy and reform, written and contributed to valuable energy legislation and driven new fiscal regulation to lower the national deficit. Baron knows how to get things done in government, and his passion and expertise will be an invaluable resource to our team and clientele.” 

The former senator worked at the law firm from 2003 to 2008 before joining the Obama administration.

Former Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) and one-time White House chief of staff Andy Card have joined the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s campaign against burdensome regulations. 

Bayh and Card will travel around the United States to provide a “bipartisan message on regulatory reform” through speeches, events and media appearances, according to a memo that was obtained by the Center for Public Integrity.

The chamber enlisted Bayh and Card as part of a larger campaign to promote regulatory relief, according to a June 2 memo from Chamber President Tom Donohue. 

The anti-regulatory effort will focus on regulatory relief, broadening regulatory reform and highlighting “the dangers and costs of overregulation.” Uncertainty caused by these regulations are why “employers are reluctant to hire and why we’re witnessing the weakest recovery from a recession since World War II,” Donohue said in the memo.

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