Former Rep. Brad Wenstrup Joins Republican CGCN Group

Former Rep. Brad Wenstrup is joining CGCN Group as a strategic partner, adding another big name to the all-GOP lobbying and public affairs firm that’s seen business grow significantly since Republicans won control of Washington.

Wenstrup, a 67-year-old former podiatrist and Army reservist, retired from Congress in January after 12 years representing Ohio’s 2nd Congressional District. CGCN founder Steve Clark recruited Wenstrup.

Wenstrup told NOTUS he has no plans to register to lobby. Members of Congress are subject to a “cooling off” period that bars them from lobbying their former colleagues for one year after they leave office, although that does not prohibit them from providing advice and expertise to others who do.

Days after leaving Congress, Wenstrup launched the consulting firm Ubiquitous Strategies Alliance. And President Donald Trump appointed him in February to the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board. (When NOTUS asked if he would continue to sit on the board, Wenstrup said, “Nothing is changing.”)

Since leaving Congress, Wenstrup has been enjoying more time with his family in Cincinnati, where he’s based. Before joining CGCN, Wenstrup could not shake Washington. He told Roll Call last month that “you’re feeling a little left out of things” when the new Congress comes in.

“I really don’t know how I ended up doing all these things. It wasn’t like this bucket list I had to do. It’s just doors would open and I’d walk through them,” Wenstrup told NOTUS.

CGCN has thrived in a Republican-controlled Washington. Former Trump administration officials at the firm include Ja’Ron Smith, the highest-ranking and longest-serving Black adviser during the president’s first term; Tim Pataki, former assistant to the president; and Harrison Fields, a former Trump White House spokesperson who joined the firm this summer.

“We’ve been all-Republican the entire time; through good times for the party, bad times for the party,” CGCN Managing Partner Sam Geduldig told NOTUS. “Too many firms got over their skis thinking about the Republican primaries, thinking about where they think the party should go versus where the voters decided it should go. And as a result, there’s a supply and demand issue, and that explains our surge in revenue.”

CGCN’s federal lobbying revenue has nearly doubled since Trump took office and Republicans won control of both chambers of Congress.

The group brought in nearly $14.1 million in the first nine months of 2025, according to the nonpartisan money-in-politics tracking nonprofit OpenSecrets, up from almost $7.1 million during the same period last year.

Unlike other lobbying shops with close ties to the Trump White House that have made a killing helping clients in the crosshairs of the administration, Geduldig said, “Our whole business model is to not take on clients that are going to war with the Republican Party.”

Since the 2024 election, CGCN has registered to lobby for more than 40 clients, including Kraft Heinz, Howard University, FanDuel, eBay and Leidos — bringing their total number of clients to 106, according to OpenSecrets.

Wenstrup served on several committees in Congress, including Ways and Means and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. He also chaired the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic and cochaired the GOP Doctors Caucus.

Before Congress, Wenstrup deployed to Iraq as chief surgeon at the Abu Ghraib prison, where he operated on American troops and enemies, including Ali Hassan al-Majid, better known as “Chemical Ali.” He earned the Bronze Star Medal and the Combat Action Badge for his service.

He was later awarded the Soldier’s Medal for his actions on a different kind of battlefield: When a gunman shot four people, including then-House Majority Whip Steve Scalise during a Congressional Baseball Game practice in June 2017, Wenstrup rushed to deliver life-saving aid to Scalise, who later called him a “hero.”