As Brian Bolduc has been reporting, Senator Dick Lugar is doing his best to fend off primary challenger Richard Mourdock, but perhaps he needn’t be so dejected if he loses, because he could be headed for a very remunerative retirement. The Hill reports:
Should Lugar be ousted, lobbying insiders said the foreign-policy expert and longest-serving Republican senator would be in high demand on K Street.
“I see him playing a senior statesman-consigliere role,” said Ivan Adler, a principal at the McCormick Group who specializes in government affairs. “I think he can provide tremendous value, years of know-how and understanding how the Senate works. He’d be a fabulous catch.” . . . Adler pointed out that Lugar has been a high-ranking member on the Agriculture Committee as well as Foreign Relations, experience that is highly prized by law and lobby firms.
Headhunters said Lugar could make more than $1 million per year if he chose to work full-time at a government affairs or lobby firm, and could pull in $250,000 annually in a part-time role, perhaps for as little as one day of work a week.
Whether Lugar wants to get involved in lobbying is another matter; Lugar is 80 years old, and would draw a robust congressional pension earned during his 36 years in office. Some close to the senator said they expect him to cut back on his workload while staying involved with the issues he cares deeply about. . . .
A number of lobbyists speculated that Lugar might take a part-time job with a law firm specializing in international affairs to supplement his pension while spending the rest of his time on signature issues such as nuclear nonproliferation and chemical and biological weapons.