Trent Lott and John Breaux sign on at Crossroads Strategies

Former Sens. Trent Lott and John Breaux joined Washington lobbying firm Crossroads Strategies on Monday, a week after Lott was abruptly fired by Squire Patton Boggs.

Lott, a Mississippi Republican and former majority leader, and Breaux, a Louisiana Democrat, spent a decade as two of the top lobbyists at Squire Patton Boggs, representing clients such as Nissan, SpaceX and the National Association of Broadcasters.

Squire Patton Boggs ousted Lott last week without explanation. Mark Ruehlmann, Squire Patton Boggs’ chairman and global chief executive, said only that the firm had “decided that it is the right time to make a change in the leadership” of its public policy practice. He indicated that Breaux would remain at the firm, calling him part of “the best team in the business.”

But Lott told POLITICO last week that the firm had found out that he and Breaux were planning to leave. “We were negotiating with another firm. They found out about it and they tried to take preventative action” to keep them from taking clients with them," he said.

Breaux and Lott will be partners as Crossroads and plan to bring some of their lobbying clients with them.

The duo served in Congress together for decades, first in the House and then in the Senate. Lott rose to become Senate majority leader but stepped down as the Republican leader in 2003 after he drew criticism for saying Mississippians were "proud" to vote for Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.) when he ran for president on a segregationist platform in 1948.

Lott and Breaux started their own lobbying firm after Lott resigned from the Senate in 2007. They moved to Squire Patton Boggs a decade ago.

Breaux appears to have parted ways with Squire Patton Boggs on better terms than Lott.

“We have mutually and amicably agreed to part ways with our longtime friend and colleague Senator John Breaux,” Ruehlmann wrote in a Monday email to the firm’s staff, which was obtained by POLITICO. “Senator Breaux’s team members, including Matthew Cutts, Callie Fuselier and John Flynn, are staying with our firm, as is Senator Lott’s former Chief of Staff Bret Boyles.”

Ruehlmann called Breaux “a man of principle” who “will remain a friend to all of us at Squire Patton Boggs.”

Crossroads is a smaller firm than Squire Patton Boggs, although hiring Breaux and Lott could boost its business. Crossroads brought in $13.4 million in lobbying revenue last year, barely half what the bigger firm pulled in.

Lott also has a personal connection to Crossroads: John Green, the firm’s chief executive, is a former Lott aide and sits on the board of the University of Mississippi’s Trent Lott Leadership Institute.

“Crossroads is one of a handful of elite government affairs firms in the nation’s capital and this addition solidifies our leadership in the space,” Stewart Hall, Crossroads’ chairman, said in a statement. “Senators Lott and Breaux joining our firm ensures our clients best-of-class counsel across multiple disciplines of regulatory and legislative public policy.”