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Sipping iced coffee at a diner the other day, Liz Whitmer Gereghty looked every bit the dream recruit Democrats need to recapture this coveted suburban House seat north of New York City.

She once owned a shop down the street, served on the school board and speaks passionately about abortion rights. She also happens to be the younger sister of one of her partys brightest stars, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan.

My rights are at risk, said Ms. Gereghty, 50. Everything feels very urgent, and I have a congressman who is not representing me, so I raised my hand.

Problem is, she was not the only one. Mondaire Jones, a popular former congressman who represented much of the area until January, is also running and believes he is the best candidate to defeat Representative Mike Lawler, the Republican incumbent.

It is a pattern repeating itself in swing seats across the country this summer, but nowhere more so than New York, where ambitious Democrats eager to challenge Republicans defending seats that President Biden won are creating primary pileups from Long Island to Syracuse.

Contested primaries have long been a reality for both parties. But after Democrats underperformance in 2022 made New York a national embarrassment, party officials and strategists have been increasingly worried that Democrat-on-Democrat fights could drain millions of dollars and bruise a crop of eventual nominees, threatening their carefully laid plans to wrest back House control.

My view is we shot ourselves in the foot last cycle, and we seem intent on shooting ourselves in the head this cycle, said Howard Wolfson, who helps steer tens of millions of dollars in political spending as Michael R. Bloombergs adviser.

I cant for the life of me understand why we cant figure this out and ensure that we have one strong candidate running in each of these districts, he added.

Paradoxically, the problem could grow only more stark if Democrats win a lawsuit seeking to redraw the states district lines. That could ease the partys path to victory, but also prompt the courts to push the primary date from June to late August, extending the bitter primary season and truncating the general election campaign.

There is time for leaders like Representative Hakeem Jeffries, the top House Democrat and a New Yorker, to intervene if they want to. While the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee rarely interferes in open primaries, there is a tradition of less direct maneuvering to boost preferred candidates and edge others out.

So far, Mr. Jeffries appears to be doing the opposite privately encouraging more potential candidates, with mixed success, according to four Democrats familiar with his outreach who asked to remain anonymous because they were not authorized to discuss it. He tried to nudge State Senator Michelle Hinchey into a Hudson Valley contest earlier this year and urged the former Nassau County executive, Laura Curran, to enter a large primary field for another seat as recently as July.

Mr. Jeffries has also offered support to Tom Suozzi to enter the race for his old House seat on Long Island, where a crowded field of Democrats is circling Representative George Santos, a first-term Republican who faces federal fraud charges.

The leaders allies argue that the competition will strengthen their nominees, and brush off concerns that Democrats will be short on funds. A Democratic super PAC has already earmarked $45 million for New York races. And the D.C.C.C. is pitching donors as recently as a party retreat in Torrey Pines, Calif., last weekend, according to an attendee to give to special nominee funds, a kind of escrow account collecting money for primary winners.

Leader Jeffries has no plan to endorse in any Democratic primary in New York, said Christie Stephenson, his spokeswoman. He is confident that whoever emerges in these competitive districts will be strongly positioned to defeat the extreme MAGA Republican crowd.

But the mix of ego and ideology buffeting the star-studded race between Mr. Jones and Ms. Gereghty shows the potential risks, particularly in such a high-profile race to reclaim a Hudson Valley seat lost last year by Sean Patrick Maloney, who was the chairman of the Democratic campaign committee at the time.

Mr. Jones, an openly gay Black Democrat, represented a more liberal configuration of the seat in Congress last term. But after a court imposed new district lines in 2022, Mr. Maloney opted to run for Mr. Joness seat instead of his traditional one. Rather than run against a party leader, Mr. Jones chose to move 25 miles to Brooklyn to run for an open seat there.

He lost and has now moved back north.

In a phone interview, Mr. Jones, 36, said he was confident that voters would understand his impossible situation, but regretted his decision not to challenge Mr. Maloney, who lost to Mr. Lawler in a seat Mr. Biden won by 10 points.

Mr. Jones said the outcome showed that you cant just substitute any Democrat for Mondaire Jones in this district. More than 100 local and national officials and groups from the Westchester Democratic chairwoman to the congressional Black and progressive caucuses have backed his comeback attempt, making him the clear front-runner against Ms. Gereghty.

But some of the positions Mr. Jones trumpeted to win more liberal electorates in earlier campaigns could prove cumbersome.

He is already tacking toward the center and would say little about Ms. Gereghty in the interview. Mr. Jones referred to his own calls to defund the police in 2020 as emotional, facile comments; his current campaign features video of Mr. Jones shaking hands with a local police chief while touting votes to increase police funding.

Mr. Jones said he wanted to see New York grant judges new authority to set cash bail for defendants they deem dangerous. And he said he would support a state plan to tax cars traveling into central Manhattan only if there was a carveout for the suburban counties he represented.

Over breakfast in Katonah, an affluent Westchester suburb, Ms. Gereghty pitched her modest record as an electoral strength in a general election. She cast herself as a member of the get-it-done wing of the Democratic Party, like her sister, and predicted Mr. Lawler would gleefully use Mr. Joness words against him, as he did to Mr. Maloney.

If you got tired of the Sean Maloney ads last year, well at least have some more variety if hes the candidate, she said.

Ms. Gereghty has no plans to drop out. But she has struggled to amass local support.

Her most notable endorsement comes from Emilys List, the national group dedicated to electing women who back abortion rights. Of the $408,000 shes raised thus far, almost half came from residents of Michigan.

Democrats have caught some breaks in neighboring districts.

Republicans have yet to field a top-tier challenger to Representative Pat Ryan, the only Democrat defending a swing seat here. They are also headed toward their own fraught primary if Mr. Santos continues to run.

Elsewhere, the candidates are crowding in.

Three Democrats, including Sarah Hughes, a former gold medal figure skater, are vying to represent the party against Representative Anthony DEsposito in a Long Island district Mr. Biden won by 14 points.

Three more have already raised at least $300,000 to run in Mr. Santoss neighboring district. That does not include Mr. Suozzi or Robert Zimmerman, the partys 2022 nominee, who is eyeing another run.

A similar dynamic is playing out in Syracuse, where four Democrats are competing over whether a moderate or progressive should take on Representative Brandon Williams, a Republican who narrowly won a seat that favored Mr. Biden by eight points in 2020.

Primaries can be bloodying, and they cost a lot of money, said Ms. Curran, who has decided not to run for Mr. DEspositos seat. It clouds the message and the mission.

Republicans have watched it all with delight.

Mr. Lawler spent the month of August meeting constituents and gathering large campaign checks. He said he ran into Mr. Jones along the way and got an earful about how frustrated the Democrat was to be stuck in a primary.

He wont have a Democratic primary vote, but Mr. Lawler, who will have to defend his own conservative votes unpopular in the district, made clear he has a preference.

Look, Id be happy to run against either, he said. But Mondaire Jones certainly has a very long and detailed record that shows him clearly out of step.

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Democrats Want to Flip N.Y. House Seats. But There's a Primary ... - The New York Times

C.J. Pearson of Georgia, Alyssa Rinelli of Wisconsin and Brilyn Hollyhand of Alabama are working to help the Republican Party mobilize more younger voters. Sarah McCammon/NPR hide caption

C.J. Pearson of Georgia, Alyssa Rinelli of Wisconsin and Brilyn Hollyhand of Alabama are working to help the Republican Party mobilize more younger voters.

At just 17, Brilyn Hollyhand is too young to vote in his home state of Alabama's presidential primary next year. He'll have to wait until next November to cast his first ballot as a Republican.

And he wants more young voters to join him.

"We drastically underperformed in the midterms," Hollyhand said of the Republican Party. "I mean, it was embarrassing."

Republicans are up against a widening generation gap. Young voters tend to vote for Democrats overwhelmingly.

But some young Republicans like Hollyhand, who was in Milwaukee last week for the party's first Republican presidential primary debate, hope to change that.

Hollyhand is co-chairman of the Republican National Committee's new youth advisory council, which he says is working to meet young voters where they are mostly online. He says the RNC assembled a diverse group of voters under 35 for the council.

"That was important to us that it wasn't just what the traditional Republican Party was of, you know, 10 old white straight males sitting in a boardroom and then trying to tell the country how to run things," he explained. "We didn't want that."

Hollyhand sees his values reflected in today's GOP, and the conservative Supreme Court justices appointed by former President Donald Trump.

As a young, white male himself, Hollyhand says he was concerned that affirmative action might hurt his chances of getting into the best colleges.

"I am a white, straight male, and I'm bottom of the totem pole," he said.

So Hollyhand was pleased with the Supreme Court's recent decision rejecting race-conscious admissions in higher education. His co-chairman on the RNC youth advisory council, C.J. Pearson from Georgia, agrees.

"As a Black man in America, I do not want anything that I achieve to be thought about as, 'Oh, well, sure, I know he's smart; he's pretty articulate; he's pretty well-spoken. And, you know, he's got a good resume. But at the same time, did he really earn that or did he earn it because he's Black?'" Pearson wondered.

As a young, Black Republican, Pearson is an outlier. The GOP lags behind not just with young voters, but with voters of color and with women.

Young female voters have expressed particularly strong support for abortion rights.

But for 24-year-old old Alyssa Rinelli of Milwaukee, the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade is moving the country in the right direction.

Rinelli says it will promote what she describes as greater "personal responsibility" when it comes to sex.

"If you're going to, you know, do the thing, make sure that you're protected and you're being responsible, and perhaps you're choosing the person that you are going to do it with a little bit more carefully," Rinelli said. "And so I think that's what [the Dobbs decision is] promoting."

Rinelli also thinks her party needs to do a better job of making its case to younger voters. So, she recently started a local Milwaukee County Young Republicans chapter.

"They're really just not in front of young voters the way that Democrats are," Rinelli explained.

But getting the Republican message in front of young voters may not be enough, says Melissa Deckman, CEO of the Public Religion Research Institute.

"They can outreach to young voters," she said. "But right now that message I don't think is going to be received very well."

Deckman notes that younger Americans are more diverse, less religious and more likely to identify as LGBTQ. Younger voters tend to differ with Republicans on issues like abortion and climate change.

"The Republican Party right now is not exactly embracing the sorts of issues that those voters care about," Deckman pointed out.

In the midterms, voters 18 to 29 supported Democrats by almost 30 points, according to exit polls. Young Republicans like Brilyn Hollyhand hope to change that, in part by talking to their likeminded peers over the coming months, urging them to get involved.

"My big push over the next few months is educating and making sure that our generation knows how to vote, where to vote, when to vote, all of that," Hollyhand said.

This election cycle, the Republican Party is actively embracing early voting, hoping that push brings in new conservative voters.

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Young voters tend to lean Democrat. Republicans want to win them ... - NPR

BELLEVUE, Pa. Rep. Chris Deluzio ordered a cup of cookies and cream and name-checked food delivery apps Grubhub and UberEats on Tuesday as he pitched a Democratic policy initiative during a visit at the Scoops ice cream store and other downtown businesses here.

Deluzio cited the apps as examples of big companies hitting consumers and small businesses with junk fees, a term President Joe Biden has seized on as an umbrella heading for efforts aimed at a host of industries, including banking, retail and travel.

The pitch by Deluzio, one of many being made by battleground Democrats this summer as corporate pushback starts to build, was welcomed by Scoops manager Nancy Denes, who said she had a love-hate relationship with delivery apps.

The shop uses Grubhub, but Denes said they make less on those orders than if someone orders directly from the shop. The charges can vary based on the contracts different Scoops shops in the Pittsburgh area have with the app, but she said a customer ordering through the app can result in a small business losing between 30 and 40 percent of a sale. She suggested that customers who want to order ahead for pickup call the store rather than go through an app.

Before stopping by a handful of businesses, Delzuio held a press conference at a pizza parlor where he highlighted what Democrats in Washington, he said, are doing to rein in the surprise charges faced by people and businesses. Its an issue the first-term Democrat, who won his seat with 53 percent of the vote in a district Biden won by less than 6 points in 2020, says should be a focal point of Democrats effort to take control of the House next year.

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Democrats tout fight over junk fees in events across the country - Roll Call

Charles Laspata, a union electrician from Millville, filed petitions in the spring to challenge Republican incumbent Michael Testa for his 1st Legislative District Senate seat.

It does not sound like hes done much about the campaign since then.

Democratic leaders in Cape May and Cumberland counties say they have not heard from Laspata, and attempts to contact the candidate through email, social media and by phone have been unsuccessful.

We havent had any contact with him, said S. Harvey Roach, chairman of the leadership committee for Cape May County Democrats. The candidates were picked in Cumberland County and introduced to Cape May County.

But there does not seem to be any more contact with the candidate from the Cumberland County party.

He hasnt spoke to me, said former Cumberland County Democratic party Chair Nancy Sungenis on Tuesday. She led the party when Laspata filed petitions to run. The current party leader, Kevin McCann, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

Laspata has not withdrawn from the race, but hed be easy to miss. His name does not appear on a flyer for a meet the candidates event the Cape May County Democrats plan to hold remotely Sept. 18, at which his running mates, Assembly candidates Damita White-Morris and Eddie Bonner, are set to speak.

He also is missing from the candidate profiles on the respective websites of the Cumberland County and Cape May County Democratic parties.

In his second term in office, state Sen. Mike Testa, R-Cape May, Cumberland, Atlantic, has b

He has no campaign website of his own, and there is little activity on his personal Facebook page. The website of New Jerseys Election Law Enforcement Commission does not show any of the required campaign finance forms have been filed for the primary election.

Campaign finance forms for Testa from June show his campaign had more than $230,000 left at the end of the primary.

Finance reports from the Assembly side show Republican incumbents Erik Simonsen and Antwan McClellan with a closing balance of $31,440 at the end of an uncontested primary, while Democrats White-Morris and Bonner did not raise any money.

Its possible the Democrats have been busy raising money all summer, said John Froonjian, executive director of the William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy at Stockton University. But he said there does not seem to be any campaign activity from Laspata at all. That includes actions that dont cost the campaign anything, such as communicating with news media or filling out a questionnaire for Ballotpedia.

It is tough to be a Democrat these days in the 1st District and in much of South Jersey, which has trended Republican in recent elections, Froonjian said Monday. But I think its a fair question for the media and voters to ask whether this is a candidacy in name only or will the candidate or the slate actually be out seeking votes or running ads.

Meanwhile, Testa appears to be a rising star, building a statewide profile despite being in the minority party in the Senate.

The district which encompasses all of Cape May County, most of Cumberland County and three towns in Atlantic County had once been firmly Republican, but then-Democrat Jeff Van Drew put together a team that kept the district blue for a decade before running successfully to succeed U.S. Rep. Frank Lobiondo, R-2nd, in 2018, bringing that seat to the Democratic column for the first time since Bill Hughes announced he would not run for reelection in 1994.

Van Drew became a Republican in his first term, throwing his support behind then-President Donald Trump, shortly after Testa, Simonsen and McClellan flipped New Jerseys 1st District to the GOP, ousting Van Drews picks of Bruce Land, Matthew Milam and Bob Andrzejczak.

The 2nd Legislative District has hosted the top-spending race three times since 2001 and ranked in the top five six times, according to the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission. This year, however, spending has been light so far.

That was a relatively close race, but the GOP teams reelection effort in 2021 was not, with the incumbents far outpolling the Democratic challengers that year.

This spring, Republicans challenged Laspatas place on the ballot, according to a story in the New Jersey Globe in April, which stated that Laspata had gathered just 115 signatures for his place on the primary ballot. A judge was not convinced enough of those signatures were invalid to remove him from the ballot, the news story states.

Republican incumbent Dennis Levinson will be challenged by Democrat Joyce Pratt in the race for the county executive office.

Republican Alexander C. Clark IV will challenge Brendan Santangelo for a seat on city council representing the 1st Ward. The seat is currentl

Democrat incumbent Aaron "Sporty" Randolph will be challenged by Republican Matthew McGrath for a four-year seat on council representing the 1

Republican Joseph Baruffi will run unopposed for the mayor's post. Former Mayor David Zappariello has decided not to run for re-election.

Incumbent Republican Mayor William Ruggieri will be challenged by Ronald Stone.

Republican Kelly Yeats and Democrat Nikki Nichols will be running for a three-year term on City Council. Councilmen William Collins decided no

Six candidates are vying for three seats on the City Council. Democratic incumbents Ryan Rodriguez, Karl Timbers and Mason Wright will be chal

Republican incumbents Paul W. Hodson and Laura Pfrommer will be challenged by Democrats Trina T. Jenkins and Lisa M. March for their three-yea

Republican incumbent Linda Givens will be challenged by independent Joe Venezia for a three-year seat on City Council.

Republican Glenn Smith is running unopposed for mayor. Current Mayor Greg Schenker has decided not to run.

Republican incumbents Anthony Coppola, Tony DiPietro and Rich Clute will be challenged for their seats on Township Committee by Democrats Robe

Republican incumbent Arthur Schenker and Democratic incumbent Judy Link will face off for a three-year seat on Council.

Six people are running for three seats on Town Council. Republicans Eric Adkisson, Joseph Caruso Jr. and Adam Re are running against independe

Republican incumbent Mayor Darren Matik is running unopposed for his seat.

Incumbent Carl Tripician is running unopposed for a three-year term on the Longport Board of Education.

Republican Charles Muller will be running unopposed for a three-year seat on Township Committee. Muller defeated current Committeeman Christop

Republican incumbent Mayor Erland Chau is against Democrat Robert Zlotnick for the post.

Democrat Charles Oglebsy will run unopposed for a seat on City Council representing the 1st Ward.

Incumbent Republican Michael Turner is running against Democrat Shawn M. Busch for a seat on Council representing the 1st Ward.

Republican Dennis Tapp and Democrat Susannah Morgan Slaughter will face off for the mayor's office. Mayor Jack Glasser has decided not to run

Incumbent Republican C. Peter Keiffenhiem will be challenged by independent Chris Egbert for a seat on Township Committee.

Republican incumbent Robert A. Nelson is running unopposed for the county sheriff.

Incumbents Alexis Batten Binder and Lois A. Scarpa are running unopposed for three-year seats on the borough's Board of Education.

Incumbents Sharon Lee Kustra, Larry Reed and Janet VanPelt are running unopposed for three-year seats on the city's Board of Education.

Peter J. Manzo Jr. is running for a three-year term on the city's Board of Education.

Republican incumbents Scott J. Turner and Thomas Van Artsdalen will run unopposed for seats on Township Committee.

Seven candidates are running for two seats three-year seats representing the township on the Lower Cape May Regional Board of Education.

Republican Christopher Leusner is running unopposed for a seat on Township Committee. Current Mayor Tim Donohue decided not to run.

Incumbent Republican Salvatore T. Zampirri, Sr. is running unopposed for an at-large seat on City Council.

Seven people are running for three three-years seats on the Ocean City Board of Education. Incumbents Cecilia Gallelli-Keyes and Robin Shaffer

Incumbent Kerry E. Mullane was the only person for two three-year seats on the Sea Isle City Board of Education.

Republicans Robin Casper, an incumbent, Tim Carey, and independent Kara F. Sweet are running for seats on the Borough Council.

Republican incumbent Curtis T. Corson is running against independent Jon K. Grubb for a seat on Township Committee.

Incumbent Kathleen Elwell is running unopposed for a three-year seat on the Lower Cape May Regional Board of Education representing West Cape May.

Incumbents Kelly Phillips and Lynn Quinlan are running for three three-years terms on the Wildwood Board of Education.

Incumbent Justin Ferarco will be challenged by Joelle Tenaglia for a three-year seat on the Wildwood Crest Board of Education.

Republican incumbents David Bennett and Hector Cruz are running unopposed for seats on City Council.

Democrat incumbent Robert A Austino will face off against a Republican in the race for the county sheriff's office.

Incumbents Erica Mosely, Albert Morgan, and Kenny Smith-Bey are running unopposed for three three-year seats on the Bridgeton Board of Education.

Republican Ronald L. Sutton and Democrat Temika Langston-Myers are running for a seat on Township Committee.

Republicans Dominick Patitucci and John A. Wolbert and Democrat John J. Stanzione Sr. are running for two seats on Township Committee.

Republicans incumbents Edward Bart and Stephen Byrne are running unopposed for seats on Township Committee.

Democrat Julia Burrus is running unopposed for a seat on Township Committee.

Democrat William Reinhart is running unopposed for a seat on Township Committee.

Republicans Kelsey M. Bayzick, an incumbent, and Jeffrey W. Shimp are running unopposed for seats on Township Committee.

Republican incumbent Elmer "Skip" Bowman is running unopposed for a seat on Township Committee.

Incumbent Republican Joseph Sterling is running unopposed for a seat on Township Committee.

Four people are running for three three-year seats on the Millville Board of Education. Incumbents Michael Beatty and Jeff Lambert will be cha

Incumbent Republicans Jeffrey Knerr and Medeia Willis are running unopposed for seats on the committee.

Republican incumbent Dale F. Cruzan Jr. is running unopposed for a seat on Township Committee.

Republican incumbent James Crilley is running unopposed for a seat on Township Committee.

Six people are running for three three-year seats on the Vineland Board of Education. Incumbents Makema Douglas, Cedric Holmes, and Dennis Riv

Republican incumbent Jeffrey W. Moran is running against Democrat Charles D. Bauer in the races for the county surrogates office.

Republican incumbents Joseph Marte and Alfonso Cirulli are running against Democrats Charles J. Cunliffe and Ronald J. Naples for two seats on

Incumbent Paul F. Sharkey is running against Jennifer Tomlinson for a three-year seat on the Southern Regional Board of Education representing

Republican incumbent Michelle Sysol is running unopposed for a seat on Township Committee.

Republican incumbent PeggySue Juliano is being challenged by Democrat Kaitlyn Triano for a seat on Township Committee.

Republican incumbents Ray Gormley and John Kehm are running against Democrats Lisa Stevens and Charles Griffin for seats on Township Committee.

Incumbent Danielle Hagler is running unopposed for a three-year seat on the Long Beach Island Consolidated School District Board of Education

Republican incumbent Kenneth Baulderston is running against Democrat Rita Ann Kopacz for a seat on Township Committee.

Republican incumbents David Hartman and Edward English are running unopposed for seats on Borough Council.

Incumbents Chris Taylor and Heather Tatur will be challenged by Joseph Mangino for two three-year seats on the Southern Regional Board of Educ

Republican incumbent Francis R. Hodgson Sr. is running unopposed for the mayor's post.

Republican incumbent Brian Martin and Keith Vreeland are running unopposed for seats on Borough Council.

Contact Bill Barlow:

609-272-7290

bbarlow@pressofac.com

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Democrat challenging Testa is ghosting the campaign - Press of Atlantic City

Rep. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) announced Tuesday that he has reintroduced legislation that would limit the ability of major defense contractors and foreign governments to hire former Defense Department officials and influence the Pentagon as lobbyists.

The Department of Defense Ethics and Anti-Corruption Act would impose a four-year ban on defense contractors hiring senior Pentagon officials and enact a similar ban on former Defense Department employees who managed their contracts.

It would also extend the prohibition of former military generals lobbying the Defense Department; require defense contractors to submit public, annual reports on the hiring of former senior department officials; and ban senior government officials from owning stock in major defense contractors that receive more than $100 million in revenue from the Pentagon.

Kim, the ranking member on the House Armed Services Committee’s Military Personnel subcommittee, said the Pentagon needs to “prevent conflicts of interest, root out corruption, waste, and fraud so officials can focus on the mission in front of them.”

“This bill is meant to reinforce those values and make sure that Americans know our defense force has their backs,” he said in a statement released Tuesday.

The Defense Department Ethics and Anti-Corruption Act is companion legislation to a bill reintroduced by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) in June.

It undoubtedly faces an uphill battle in Congress, where extensive legislation seeking to crack down on defense contractor influence has rarely seen the light of day.

Warren, who has tried for years to pass similar legislation with no success, said “national security is put at risk” when former senior military officials “sell their credentials to the highest bidder.”

“I’m renewing the push with Representative Kim to pass legislation that will root out corruption, rein in foreign influence, and ensure greater transparency over defense contractors and their interactions with [the Defense Department],” she said in a statement earlier this year.

Warren published a report in April that found about 672 instances of former government officials or military officials who went to work for contractors since 2021, most of whom became lobbyists. Boeing, Raytheon and General Electric hired the most, according to Warren’s report.

The proposed bill also seeks to ensure transparency on the issue by forcing contractors to submit detailed reports of their lobbying activities and requiring the Defense Department secretary to more routinely publish copies of unclassified Pentagon contracts.

In a similar vein, the legislation would limit the influence of foreign interests on the Pentagon, addressing concerns about retired military officials taking jobs abroad.

The Washington Post published an investigation last year that found more than 500 veterans, including generals and admirals, were hired for lucrative jobs around the world since 2015, particularly in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other Persian Gulf states.

The bill from Kim would prohibit senior national security officials or intelligence government personnel from working on behalf of foreign governments or private firms connected to foreign governments.

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Democrat introduces bill to limit defense contractor, foreign government influence on Pentagon - The Hill