Speaker Johnson's staff to know
Illustration: Gabriella Turrisi/Axios
Now that the House finally has a speaker again, here's a rundown of Mike Johnson's circle of staffers and outsiders who may influence his health policy decisions.
The big picture: It's worth getting to know his senior aides, but he doesn't have a big personal staff, and a lot of them don't have much experience. So he's going to have to hire up, and fast.
What they're saying: Dan Ziegler, a principal at Williams & Jensen who worked with Johnson's staff on the Republican Study Committee, says Johnson has a strong interest in policy. "To work for Mike Johnson, you've got to really know your policy," he said.
- But it's important to note that former Speaker Kevin McCarthy's health staffer, Ryan Long, and Majority Leader Steve Scalise's health staffer, Alye Mlinar, have recently left the Hill.
- That means GOP leadership will have to hire health staffers, and with Johnson not having much of a background in health care, the staffers will likely wield a lot of influence over policy.
Hayden Haynes, Johnson's chief of staff
Haynes has been chief of staff for Johnson since he took office in 2017, per Legistorm. He was previously Johnson's campaign manager for his first congressional race in 2016. He's also from Johnson's district.
- Before that, he worked for a fellow Louisianan, former Sen. David Vitter, as a "regional representative."
- As the regional representative, Haynes was plugged in with local groups and governments, which is part of how he ended up as Johnson's chief, per a D.C. source who knows Johnson's staff from the Hill.
- "Hayden's a really effective political operator" who "knows Louisiana extremely well," Ziegler said.
- He is still relatively young, especially for a chief of staff to the now-speaker, having graduated from college (Louisiana Tech) in 2011.
- You can check out his Twitter feed here, though much of it is about Louisiana Tech sports and Saints football.
Garrett Fultz, Johnson's deputy chief of staff
Fultz has been handling policy in Johnson's office since 2017, rising to the deputy chief role this year, per LinkedIn.
- He's handled a huge slate of issues for the Louisiana Republican, including energy and appropriations.
- Before heading to law school at Tulane, he worked briefly as a petroleum landman for Hunter Energy.
- Landmen typically manage and negotiate leasing and exploration agreements, so it's a fitting role for a future on the Hill.
Drew Keyes, senior policy analyst at Paragon Health Institute
Keyes is not currently on the Hill, but he was a professional staff member when Johnson was chair of the Republican Study Committee and ran his Health Care Task Force portfolio.
- According to his Paragon bio, he wrote legislation and letters for RSC members, provided bill analysis and drafted policy papers and messaging memos.
- As we wrote Wednesday, when Johnson was RSC chair he put out a 57-page health care plan that included Medicaid per capita caps, expanding HSAs, raising the Medicare eligibility age and repealing some of the ACA's pre-existing conditions protections.
- Keyes also stayed on at RSC as a staffer under Rep. Jim Banks, who also had a health care policy playbook as chair.
- He's worked at Paragon since July 2022, where he has recently focused on public health policy and the Pandemic All Hazards Preparedness Act.
- Before working at the RSC, Keyes also worked for as a legislative assistant for Reps. Tom McClintock and Louie Gohmert.
