Rep. Van Hollen shakes up Speaker’s assistant position

Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) is changing the position of assistant to the Speaker, hiring staff to fulfill his new incumbent-retention portfolio.

The previous assistant to the Speaker , Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.), had no staff and a less-defined role within the leadership before he stepped up to become vice chairman of the Democratic Caucus after the November elections.

{mosads}But on Tuesday, Van Hollen announced the hiring of two
staffers. Karen Robb, chief of staff in Van Hollen’s personal office, will move
to the new leadership office to become policy director. She will be replaced in
Van Hollen’s personal office by David Weaver, now chief of staff to Maryland
Comptroller Peter Franchot.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) named Van Hollen her assistant after he dropped a bid for caucus chairman and agreed to serve another two-year term as chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC).

As assistant to the Speaker, Van Hollen will help the Democratic leadership to formulate policy and help coordinate legislative strategy with the incoming Obama administration. He is also to get the “member services” portfolio that belonged to Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) when he was caucus chairman. Emanuel is leaving to become chief of staff in the Obama White House.

Emanuel ran a “one-stop-shopping” assistance operation for the class of 2006 freshmen he brought to Congress as DCCC chairman, offering help with hiring, press and legislation to boost their chances of reelection.

The role of Pelosi’s assistant has changed with the different people who have held the job. When Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) held the job in the minority, the position included staff. But when Becerra held the position, it did not.