Paul Ryan names top aides

Newly elected House Speaker Paul Ryan said Friday he would turn to close aides to advise him in the Speaker’s Office. 

Joyce Meyer, Ryan’s staff director at the Ways and Means Committee the Wisconsin Republican led, will be deputy chief of staff, while Austin Smythe, another close aide, will be policy director. 

{mosads}Brendan Buck, a former press secretary to Ryan’s predecessor, former Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio), and later communications director for Ryan on Ways and Means, will have the title of chief communications adviser. 

Ryan previously announced that David Hoppe, a Washington lobbyist who served as chief of staff to former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.), would be Ryan’s chief of staff in the Speaker’s office. 

“It’s a new day in the House, and this new team will help drive a different kind of speakership,” Ryan said in a statement. “They all have my full confidence and a deep understanding of this institution. I know they will serve the House and its members well.”