Lobbying Hires

• Covington & Burling has hired Stephen M. Humenik as a counsel in the firm’s Washington office to work in its commodities practice. He comes from Eris Exchange, a futures exchange in Chicago, where he worked as the general counsel and chief regulatory officer. Humenik also served as special counsel and policy adviser to Commodity and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Commissioner Scott D. O’Malia and as a trial lawyer in the CFTC’s Division of Enforcement.

• EDUCATION. One of Washington’s most prominent business groups is going back to school — with K Street’s help. The Business Roundtable has hired Penn Hill Group to lobby on “issues and initiatives as follows: K-12 Higher Education Workforce,” according to lobbying disclosure records. Alex Nock, once Democratic deputy staff director for the House Education and Labor Committee, and Vic Klatt, a former Republican staff director for the panel, are among the lobbyists working the account.

• Former Democratic Rep. Robert “Bud” Cramer (Ala.) has joined Capitol Hill Consulting Group as vice chairman. Since leaving Congress, he has served as the chairman of Wexler & Walker Public Policy Associates and worked as the head of research nonprofit Center Forward, previously known as the Blue Dog Research Forum.

• BUDGET. A former aide to President Obama at the Campbell Spencer Group is now lobbying for the Fix the Debt coalition. 

• Kelly Pike Poulsen and Rishi Banerjee have joined the American Frozen Food Institute and will serve as the director of government affairs and manager of regulatory and technical affairs, respectively.

• Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck has added a new division in its Washington, D.C., office that will focus on energy, environment and resource strategies.

The former long-time chief of staff for Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) is now lobbying for ExxonMobil Corp. on energy, environment and tax issues, according to documents made public in mid-April.

ExxonMobil retained Josh Kardon, who served on Wyden’s staff from 1992 until 2011, through lobby shop Capitol Hill Consulting Group. Kardon is senior vice president with the firm.

Kardon will bring intimate knowledge about Wyden, who chairs the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

• ENERGY. ExxonMobil has hired a former top aide to Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).

Former Rep. Connie Mack (R-Fla.) has headed to K Street.

Mack joined Liberty Partners Group as a partner and senior policy adviser for the firm in Washington. The ex-Florida Republican lost his Senate bid against Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) last year.

Martha Bradford, a former aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, has joined the Bockorny Group as a principal.