By Scott Wong - 05/12/15 06:00 AM EDT
White House hopefuls have begun poaching top aides from Capitol Hill — and with so many Republican candidates eyeing a run in 2016, there is no shortage of opportunities.
The move by Speaker John Boehner’s (R-Ohio) spokesman, Michael Steel, to former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush’s team on Monday was just the latest example of congressional aides making the switch to the campaign trail.
Catherine Frazier, Sergio Gor and Alex Conant — top communicators for GOP Sens. Ted Cruz (Texas), Rand Paul (Ky.) and Marco Rubio (Fla.), respectively — have all made the jump in recent months to their bosses’ nascent 2016 presidential campaigns.
Cruz also hired on Brian Phillips to lead his 2016 rapid response media team. Phillips had been the top spokesman for Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) since 2011.
Steel, a top aide for Boehner since 2008, joins two other Capitol Hill veterans who recently joined Team Jeb to focus on national security and foreign policy issues: Robert S. Karem and John Noonan.
Karem most recently served as a top policy adviser to House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and his predecessor, former Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.). Earlier, he had served as a foreign policy adviser for former Vice President Cheney and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
Noonan had been a GOP spokesman for the House Armed Services Committee and briefly advised Republican nominee Mitt Romney on defense issues during his 2012 presidential campaign.
Several of these former Capitol Hill aides declined to comment, saying they don’t participate in stories about campaign staffers.
But campaign veterans say there are numerous advantages to hiring such aides: High-profile communications staffers like Steel are on a first-name basis with many of the reporters in Washington who are now covering the 2016 campaign. And they are already up to speed on many of the top policy issues of the day, from sweeping trade legislation to a bill on Iran’s nuclear capabilities.
“A lot of these folks are always in the cauldron of national politics,” said one GOP political operative, “and that is the kind of experience that is tough to find and can really help a presidential candidate who is going to have a huge spotlight on him or her for the next year and a half.”
While many GOP candidates are still building their teams, Hillary Clinton, the current front-runner for the 2016 Democratic nomination, has brought on a number of veteran communicators from the Obama administration, Capitol Hill and the Democratic campaign committees.
They include Brian Fallon, who served as top spokesman for Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) before going on to work for then-Attorney General Eric Holder; Jesse Ferguson and Tyrone Gayle, former spokesmen for House Democrats’ campaign arm; and Ian Sams and Rebecca Chalif, who served in the communications shop at the Democratic National Committee. Sams previously worked for Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.).
As attention shifts more and more to the 2016 campaign, other Capitol Hill staffers are certain to be in high demand — especially those with presidential experience. They include former Boehner aide Brendan Buck, who joined the Romney campaign in 2012 before returning to Capitol Hill as the chief spokesman for Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), the new Ways and Means chairman. Buck, however, said he loves his job and has no plans to leave.
Others have pledged to sit out the GOP primary entirely. Josh Holmes and John Ashbrook, former top aides to McConnell who recently launched their own political firm called Cavalry, have decided to not get involved in the GOP primary, saying they’ve got friends in every camp.
“If there is an opportunity for us to be helpful in the general election, we would certainly entertain it,” Ashbrook said.
Steel is perhaps the most public face of Boehnerland. Almost daily, he can be spotted in the Speaker’s lobby just off the House floor, mixing it up with reporters on the issues of the day.
His move to Bush’s team further reinforces the ties between the three-term Speaker and former Florida governor, the GOP establishment favorite in 2016 who is both the son and younger brother to past U.S. presidents.
Boehner has no plans to endorse in the GOP primary, but he’s spent the past year wooing Bush to enter the presidential race. Steel would provide a direct line between the Speaker and Bush’s all-but-certain presidential campaign.
“Ask anyone in the Capitol — Republican, Democrat or otherwise — about Michael Steel, and they will tell you the same thing: he is a pro’s pro,” Boehner said in a statement Monday.
Steel is no stranger to the campaign trail. In 2012, he served as press secretary for Ryan when Romney picked him as his running mate. And last year, Steel traveled to his native North Carolina to help Republican Thom Tillis unseat Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan.
Other former GOP congressional aides who will be part of Team Jeb include Paul Lindsay, who headed communications for the Republican super-PAC Crossroads GPS, and Allie Brandenburger, who was a spokeswoman for Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Calif.) before taking similar roles for the Republican National Committee and 2012 Romney campaign.
This story was updated at 8:50 a.m.
