After a four year tenure as chair of the Democratic National Committee, Tom Perez has taken a job as partner at Washington D.C. law and lobbying firm Venable LLP.
“When assisting clients with legal, legislative, and regulatory matters across a broad range of subject matter areas, Tom Perez brings to bear decades of experience leading government organizations at the federal, state, and local levels,” Venable’s website says.
Venable advertises services defending employers against labor unions, including collective bargaining negotiations, refuting unfair labor practices allegations, and offering advice during union organizing campaigns and petition drives.
“We regularly counsel and train clients on union avoidance,” Venable’s website reads.
Perez took charge of a beleaguered DNC in 2017, after an election cycle where the group was accused by some of its most influential figures of rigging the nominating process against grassroots candidate Bernie Sanders and in favor of establishment favorite Hillary Clinton. But rather than reckoning with how the organization funneled $82 million to the Clinton campaign and patching up relations with the grassroots elements of the party, Perez elevated establishment figures to positions where they could vote down reforms like instituting a conflict of interest policy and banning corporate lobbyists from being superdelegates.
