The House Republican Conference is staffing up heading into the 119th Congress. Chair Lisa McClain (R-Mich.) announced a slate of senior staff, pulling many from her own staff and from GOP conference staff under Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.):
Chief of staff: Nick Hawatmeh, who had previously served as McClain’s chief in her personal office
Deputy chief of staff: Jake Ronan, who served as scheduling and operations director for McClain
Communications director: Zach Barnett, who most recently served as communication director for Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and the Senate Armed Services Committee
Member services director: Alyssa Erdel, who was already running members services for the House GOP conference under Stefanik
General counsel: Tara Hupman, who was most recently chief counsel to the House Energy and Commerce Committee
Policy director: Erik Kinney, who was McClain’s legislative director.
Coalitions director: Garrett Puckett, who worked for McClain as director of member services and as a legislative assistant
Senior adviser: Anderson Okoniewski, who ran operations and scheduling for the GOP conference under Stefanik
