Rep. John Kline (R-Minn.) recently welcomed three new faces to his office.

Steve Messick, a 2003 graduate of Hamline University, joined the team as a legislative assistant. Before his move to Washington, Messick, 23, did constituent outreach for the Congressman’s Burnsville office. He also worked on Kline’s campaigns in 2000 and 2002 and served as a research assistant for the Minnesota state Senate.

Messick hails from Hastings, Minn.

Two interns complete Kline’s summer staff.

Derek Olson, a Prior Lake, Minn., native, serves as a legislative intern for the month. He lives in Malibu, Calif., and attends Pepperdine University.

Olson, 21, will graduate in 2004 with a bachelor’s in international studies. He brings with him experience with “Victory 2000” in California and with Kline’s 2002 Congressional campaign.

Brooks Halliday, an undergraduate at Smith College, will work on Kline’s press team this summer as part of a year-long externship combining journalism with politics. The 21-year-old Minneapolis native will graduate in 2004 with a degree in American studies.

New Counsel. Michael Geffroy has taken the reins as senior counsel for the House Homeland Security Committee.

Since his 1992 graduation from Catholic University Law School, Geffroy

has served as counsel for the House Energy and Commerce Committee, worked in private practice, worked as assistant U.S. attorney in Washington and served as an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps.

The 37-year-old Narragansett, R.I., native graduated from Brown University in 1989 with a bachelor’s in history.

Four for Team Kolbe. After shifting his staff around a bit, Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-Ariz.) has finally solidified his team.

Mark Morehouse, a legislative assistant for the past two years, has been promoted to legislative director. Prior to his tenure in Kolbe’s office, Morehouse worked for Deutsche bank and Lehman Brothers on Wall Street for nine years. He also served as an outreach coordinator for Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) 2000 presidential campaign.

Morehouse, 42, graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1983 and spent nine years in the Army.

Rebecca Jensen, 24, will join Kolbe’s staff as a legislative assistant. The 2001 Carleton College grad comes from McCain’s office, where she worked in a similar capacity for two years. She hails from Tucson and studied political science.

Trent Wright will also serve Kolbe as a legislative assistant. The 26-year-old recently moved from a two-year legislative correspondent position for the Senate Special Aging Committee under Chairman Larry Craig (R-Idaho).

The Twin Falls, Idaho, native graduated from the University of Idaho in 2000 with a dual degree in policy science and anthropology.

Omar Khawaja, a Kolbe intern during the fall of 2002, has assumed the position of staff assistant. She replaced Todd Bowers, a Marine Reserve who was called to serve in Iraq. The 24-year-old Houston native graduated from the University of Arizona in 2002 with a business management degree.