Rep.-elect Joe Schwarz (R-Mich.) has begun the process of selecting his staff.

Matt Marsden, 30, has been chosen as Schwarz’s chief of staff. He is currently serving as transition director and was the campaign manager during Schwarz’s race for Michigan’s 7th district seat. As chief of staff, Marsden will be in charge of the Washington, D.C., office and will coordinate the legislative and constituent services staffs.

Marsden graduated from the James Madison College at Michigan State University in 1996. He is a native of Clarkston, Mich. Before coming to work for Schwarz, Marsden worked with George W. Bush’s election and re-election campaigns and served as an aide to Gov. John Engler’s (R) communications director.

Rebecca Schneider, 30, has been brought on board as the district director. She will manage the three district offices and supervise staff contact with constituents. Currently working for the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit as director of government relations, Schneider has also served as director of legislative relations for Michigan’s attorney general, Mike Cox.

Schneider graduated from Kalamazoo College in Michigan in 1993 and received a master’s in public administration from George Washington University in 1996. She hails from Saline, Mich.

VA Committee Promotes Two. The House Veterans’ Affairs Committee has promoted two staffers in the wake of Staff Director and Chief Counsel Patrick Ryan’s retirement last month.

John Bradley has been promoted to staff director; he previously served for four years as the staff director for the Veterans’ Affairs subcommittee on health. The committee is near and dear to Bradley’s heart. He has spent 25 years working for the Department of Veterans Affairs, and prior to that he served in Vietnam from 1969 to 1970, where he won the Bronze Star.

In addition to his work with the VA, Bradley has also worked for Sen. Frank Murkowski (R-Alaska) and on the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee office of Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.).

Bradley received a bachelor’s in public administration from George Mason University in 1981. The 55-year-old is a native of Alleghany County, Va.

Kingston Smith has been promoted to chief counsel. Smith is another decorated veteran, having served in the Air Force during the Vietnam War. Among his duties were stints as a courier officer for nuclear weapons and special operations missions for the National Security Agency in Vietnam and Laos.

Smith did his undergraduate work at Duke University and went on to receive his law degree from the University of Richmond. Before joining the committee on which he currently serves, Smith worked as a civil trial lawyer.