Illustration: Gabriella Turrisi/Axios
New Speaker Mike Johnson has an enormous staffing challenge in front of him.
Why it matters: Johnson has a tiny staff — some of whom have worked for him less than a year — and relatively few connections on K Street.
- He'll need a bunch of new tech and government spending experts to fill his office.
- This dynamic could also mean much more influence for Steve Scalise and his experienced leadership team, a possibility that lobbyists are already chattering about.
But Johnson has had two loyal top staffers steering the ship:
Hayden Haynes, chief of staff
Details: Haynes, a Louisiana native, has been chief of staff for Johnson since he took office in 2017, per LegiStorm. He managed Johnson's campaign during his first congressional race in 2016.
- Before that Haynes worked as a regional representative for a fellow Louisianan: former Sen. David Vitter.
- In that role, 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.
- "Hayden's a really effective political operator" who "knows Louisiana extremely well," said Dan Ziegler, a principal at Williams & Jensen who formerly worked with Johnson's staff on the Republican Study Committee.
- 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, deputy chief of staff
Details: Fultz has also been handling policy in Johnson's office since 2017, rising to the deputy chief role this year, per LinkedIn.
- He's worked on an extensive 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 Corp.
What we're watching: Kevin McCarthy has a bevy of policy aides with leadership experience that could get a look as Johnson staffs up.
- One name to keep an eye on: Josh Hodges, another Vitter alum, was Johnson's first LD. He went on to work at DOE and on the National Security Council during the Trump administration.
- Ziegler will also be one of the new speaker's top connections to K Street.
