Capitol Bench — Government Relations Talent on Demand

Vetted contract, fractional, and direct-hire GR professionals for federal, defense, and Texas policy. Coverage in weeks - not a six-month search.

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WHO WE ARE

Capitol Bench is a vetted network connecting companies and government affairs firms with experienced professionals across federal and Texas government. We make it easier to find the specific expertise a government issue requires, and easier for proven professionals to be found by the companies and firms that need exactly what they know.

FOUNDED BY

Former House Appropriations Chief of Staff + Registered Budget and Appropriations Lobbyist

Former CEO of a Global Staffing Company Listed on the New York Stock Exchange

HIRE GOVERNMENT RELATIONS TALENT ON DEMAND

Capitol Bench places vetted government relations talent on demand. Tell us who you are, and we'll take you where you need to go.

Hire government relations talent on demand

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Description

You built a career on judgment. Judgment only pays when someone knows to ask you. Capitol Bench keeps a vetted bench of government affairs professionals, federal and Texas. When a company or a firm needs exactly the expertise you spent a career building, we bring them to you. More time doing the work. Less time hunting for it. You stay independent. You decide what you take. Nothing goes out with your name on it until you say so, and we clear conflicts before it moves. There is no cost to take your seat. There is only a cost to sitting this out.

Features

Vetted Hill, defense, and Texas Capitol professionals matched to your issue

Coverage in weeks - crisis/interim, fractional, session surge, or direct hire

Compliance - registration, disclosure, cooling-off periods - built into every placement

Federal AND Austin coverage from a firm that understands both

WHERE WE WORK

We keep a vetted roster of registered lobbyists, former Hill and Texas Capitol staff, policy and appropriations advisors, and public affairs professionals. Companies and firms come to us when they need someone: full time, project work, or surge capacity for session.

WHY CAPITOL BENCH

No one else runs a dedicated contract, fractional, and direct-hire model for government relations talent. That white space is the whole point.

Vetted on the Founder’s Network

Compliance Built In

Coverage in Weeks, Not Months

Vetted on the Founder’s Network

Compliance Built In

WHO WE SERVE

Your head of GR just left, you're entering Texas, or a bill could reshape your business. Hire a vetted contract, fractional, session-surge, or direct-hire professional. Coverage in weeks, not a six-month search, so you spend time running your business, not prospecting.

Keep your independence and let the work come to you. Join the bench with your issue areas and jurisdictions, and we bring you matched engagements. Contract, fractional, session-surge, or direct hire. Free to join.

Staff the surge without adding fixed headcount. Tap the bench for overflow talent during session or budget cycles, and let our prospecting engine hand you qualified, conflict-checked client meetings.

Registration, disclosure, and cooling-off periods are genuinely complex. We build compliance into every engagement: federal LDA, Texas Ethics Commission, and post-government restrictions so it's handled from day one.

THE MARKET

WHY WE EXIST

Government Affairs is a multi-billion dollar market that still runs on who you happened to meet. That breaks in both directions. A company with a real policy problem has no way to find the one person who already knows their agency and their committee. And a former Appropriations staffer with fifteen years of experience has almost no reach to the companies who need exactly that. Capitol Bench is the bench. Federal and Texas. Vetted roster, conflicts cleared before any name moves, and three ways to work with us: full time, project work, or surge capacity through a session.

Federal lobbying crossed $5 billion for the first time in 2025. The FY2026 defense budget passed $1 trillion. The largest peacetime defense budget in U.S. history. Demand for people on your team who understand appropriations and procurement has never been higher.

Federal & Defense

Record spend, NEW RULES, NEW PROCUREMENT PROCESS, IF YOU DON'T HAVE THE RIGHT TEAM, YOU'LL MISS OUT

In Texas, a contested taxpayer-funded-lobbying fight and the arrival of the Texas Stock Exchange, NYSE Texas, and Nasdaq Dallas are reshaping who needs a voice at the Capitol, and how they staff for it.

Texas State & Local

New capital arriving with no Austin infrastructure

FOUNDERS

Government relationships and staffing infrastructure, in one firm. Neither could build this alone, and no competitor currently offers both under one roof.

LEARN MORE

FAQ

Your Questions, Answered

For Companies with Policy Exposure

How do I hire a contract or fractional lobbyist?

Tell Capitol Bench your issue area, jurisdiction, and need. We match a vetted government relations professional and can have coverage in place in weeks - on a contract with a firm, fractional, session-surge, or direct-hire basis.

What is fractional government relations?

Fractional government relations is ongoing, part-time policy and advocacy support for organizations that aren't ready for a full-time hire - a senior professional for the days that matter, without the full-time cost.

Can you cover both Texas and Washington, D.C.?

Yes. Capitol Bench places professionals across federal, defense, and Texas state and local policy, so you can get Austin and Washington coverage from one place.

How fast can you place someone?

Most engagements can be covered in weeks rather than the six months a permanent executive search takes, because we match from a vetted bench rather than recruiting from scratch.

Do you handle lobbying compliance?

Yes. Registration, disclosure, and cooling-off period management are built into every placement.

For Independent GR Professionals

How do I find contract government relations work?

Join the Capitol Bench bench with your issue areas and jurisdiction. When an organization needs coverage that fits your expertise, we bring the engagement to you - contract, fractional, session-surge, or direct hire.

What is a fractional lobbyist or fractional GR professional?

A fractional government relations professional provides part-time, ongoing policy and advocacy support to organizations that don't need a full-time hire. It's a common way for independent lobbyists to serve several clients at once.

Do you place both federal and Texas government relations professionals?

Yes. Capitol Bench works across federal, defense, and Texas state and local policy, and matches professionals by issue area and jurisdiction.

For Government Relations and Lobbying Firms

What do you actually do for us?

We take client prospecting off your hands. We build a scored target list in your lanes from the public record, make the approach, and hand you qualified meetings. You do the pitching and the work. Your people stop spending Thursdays on cold outreach.

Do you handle conflict checks with our existing book?

Yes, client rosters are public, federal and state. We check before we introduce, not after. Before a name reaches you, we cross-reference every prospect against your existing book. Your internal clearance still runs as normal. We just make sure the list you are clearing is already clean.

What does it cost?

You put us on a monthly retainer, which buys the prospecting engine. Then, when a prospect we sourced actually signs with you, we earn that new client's first month of retainer as a finder's fee. Our fee is triggered by a client signing a contract with you, which is a commercial event, never by a bill passing or an agency ruling.

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Capitol Bench is a government affairs talent company operating across federal and Texas jurisdictions. Every seat on the bench is filled by conversation. We ask what you actually did, which is rarely what a résumé says. Conflicts are cleared against both books before any name moves in either direction. Names are not published.

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The Right GR Professional in the Room, On Your Terms.

A Pairing

Hard to Replicate

Your Questions, Answered