It must feel like Groundhog Day in the office of Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas). She just brought on a new chief of staff making him the fifth person to hold that title this year.
Bill Zito has replaced Darin Gardner, who left the office one month after replacing Steve Ruhlen. Ruhlen, in turn, also left after a several-week stint from July to August. Overall, Granger has had three chiefs of staff since July and five since the start of 2015. Matt Leffingwell had served as her chief of staff since 2012 but departed in January of this year. His position was filled by Shannon Meade who stayed until July when she was replaced by Ruhlen.
Bill Zito joins Granger after serving for two years as the deputy chief of staff for Rep. John Carter (R-Texas) since late 2013. He began his Hill career as an U.S. Army congressional fellow in 2012.
The turnover rate for other top office positions is not much better. Granger's current legislative director, Corey Inglee, took over from Jonathan Blyth in September who had only held the position for six months.
Granger has also gone through four schedulers this year. Her current scheduler, Nathan Zapf, has held the position for less than a month, taking over from Laura Kennedy who was onboard from June until August. She in turn took over from Brenan Tjelmeland when he left after six months. Since 2014, Granger's office has had eight schedulers.
Communications directors also come and go with some frequency. Ted Monoson left as Granger's communication director this month after joining in June. His departure marks the third this year after Steven Dutton and Todd Winer.
