Lobbying world

King & Spalding has brought on senior Securities Exchange Commission enforcement attorney Alexander Koch to serve as partner in its Washington office — a homecoming of sorts, since Koch left the firm in 2002 to join the financial regulator. He served as the co-chair of the enforcement division’s priorities and resources subcommittee, a position in which he helped evaluate the office’s priorities and allocation of resources.

Lobbyists Scott Brenner and Kyle Mulhall have left Gephardt Government Affairs after six years to hang their own shingle. Their new firm, Rosemont Strategies, will give clients “insight into Congress, the White House and the media,” according to a release. Brenner, a Republican, has worked on Capitol Hill and also served in the Bush administration at the Federal Aviation Administration and the Department of Homeland Security. Mulhall, a Democrat, worked at the Department of Transportation and for former House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt (D-Mo.).

{mosads}Sarah Makin, who most recently worked at Wise Public Affairs, has rejoined the office of Rep. Randy Forbes (R-Va.), where she will serve as a senior adviser, according to Legistorm, a congressional tracking website. She first worked for Forbes in 2006 as a staff assistant. Her Capitol Hill resume also includes the Republican Study Committee and the House Republican Conference. At Wise Public Affairs, Makin was registered to lobby for the U.S. Consumer Coalition. 

Cornerstone Government Affairs hired Tyler Nelson, chief of staff to Rep. Pete Olson (R-Texas), as a vice president. He will be joining the firm in June following a seven-year stint with the Texas lawmaker and will split his time between the lobbying firm’s offices in Houston and Austin, Texas, and Washington, D.C. 

The Podesta Group has added consultant Terry Neal as a principal to its PR practice. He most recently served as a senior communications consultant for Fannie Mae, helping the mortgage giant rebrand. He has worked for government contractor CGI Federal, LightSquared and public affairs firm Hill+Knowlton Strategies. He spent almost two decades as a journalist, including at The Washington Post.