On Tuesday afternoon, California Rep. Dennis Cardoza resigned from Congress, effective at midnight. Before the day was over, he already had another job — as a director at a D.C. lobbying firm. Cardoza had long ago announced that he wouldn't be seeking re-election in the fall, after his North California Democratic district got carved up and smushed together with the one belonging to fellow Democrat Jim Costa. However, he decided to call it a public career three months early, citing the lack of any meaningful action in Washington and unspecified "parenting challenges." 

But before his resignation could even take effect, the law/consulting/tax/lobbying firm Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP, announced that Cardoza would be joining the firm as a Managing Director in its Government and Regulatory Affairs division.

Cardona told the The Sacramento Bee after his resignation announcement that "I'm not leaving my service to the Valley. I'll just be doing it from a different venue." Apparently, that venue is Manatt's Washington office (despite the fact that the firm has outposts in Sacramento, as well as Palo Alto and Orange County, California), which really means he'll be sitting on the opposite side of the desk when meeting with his former colleagues in the Capitol.

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Dashiell Bennett