Outgoing D.C. Councilmember David Grosso will join U.S. law and lobbying firm Arent Fox after his term ends in January, the firm said Wednesday. Arent Fox represents major businesses, nonprofits, and charter schools with interests before the city, lobbying records show.
Grosso, who was first elected to the D.C. Council as an at-large member in 2012, is slated to become a partner in the firm’s government relations practice. He will advise Arent Fox clients who work in real estate, hospitality, education, health care, the arts, and cannabis, the firm said in a release.
Grosso has served two terms and is currently the chair of the council’s education committee. “It has been an honor to serve the people of the District of Columbia as an elected official, and I am proud to join such a well-regarded and storied firm that has strong roots in the city I love,” he said in a statement issued by Arent Fox.
The move has been rumored since Grosso recused himself from several votes related to Arent Fox clients in the last month. Those clients included NPR, Studio Theatre, and the Public Welfare Foundation, Washington City Paper’s Mitch Ryals first reported.
Council rules on potential conflicts of interest involving former employees mean Grosso won’t be able to lobby the council on behalf of Arent Fox’s clients for at least one year after his term. This prohibition extends to “particular matters,” such as the education bills Grosso has worked on, notes a current council staffer familiar with the rules.
Grosso is not the first councilmember in recent memory to go into lobbying. Former At-Large Councilmembers Vincent Orange and David Catania have both been lobbyists: Orange for electric utility Pepco and the D.C. Chamber of Commerce (which named him CEO while he was still on the council), and Catania for his own firm, Georgetown Public Affairs.
Mayoral staffers have also left for private employers with business before the city. In September, ex-City Administrator Rashad Young joined Howard University as an executive after abruptly departing from Mayor Muriel Bowser’s team the month before. (He was fined by D.C.’s government ethics board for brokering a tax break for Howard while seeking a job there.)
In addition to its headquarters on K Street NW, Arent Fox has offices in New York, Boston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Its clients include Uber, D.C. United, Ford’s Theatre, sports-betting companies, and a number of local charter schools, per city records.
Grosso will be replaced on the council by his former staffer Christina Henderson, who won the at-large race in November. In fall 2019, he announced he wouldn’t seek a third term, setting off a fierce contest to fill his seat. Henderson, an independent like her old boss, is one of three new lawmakers who will turn the council majority-female for the first time since 1998.
