WASHINGTON, DC – Today Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) announced additional members of his senior staff team for the Ways and Means Committee. Allison Halataei will serve as General Counsel and Emily Schillinger as Director of Communications. Named as subcommittee staff directors are Amy Shuart for Social Security and Anne DeCesaro for Human Resources.

“We’re building an experienced and talented team to enact a positive, pro-growth agenda that delivers opportunities to all Americans. I’m pleased to announce these respected professionals and look forward to their contributions”, said Chairman Brady.

Halataei has served as general counsel and parliamentarian of the House Judiciary Committee since 2013, and has over a decade of experience as a counsel on Capitol Hill. Prior to this she worked as the vice president of government affairs for the National Music Publishers’ Association. She received her bachelor’s degree from Palm Beach Atlantic University and her JD from the Georgetown University Law Center.

Schillinger most recently served as press secretary to the Speaker of the House John A. Boehner.  Prior to this she served as communications director to U.S. Senator John Barrasso and the Senate Republican Policy Committee. Earlier in her career she served in the George W. Bush Administration as press secretary at the U.S. Department of Commerce and an Assistant Press Secretary at the White House.  She received her bachelor’s degree from Clemson University.

Shuart has served as professional staff on the Subcommittee on Social Security since 2011 handling a broad portfolio of social security, disability insurance and related policies and reforms.  Earlier in her career, she served at the Social Security Administration in the Office of Retirement Policy. Shuart has also served as a Presidential Management Fellow at the Ways and Means Committee, the Social Security Administration and the Office of Management and Budget.  She received her bachelor’s degrees from Virginia Tech and her master’s degree from Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin.

DeCesaro returns to the Human Resources Subcommittee staff where she previously served from 2011 to 2014. This year she was the lead staffer on the House Agriculture Committee subcommittee on nutrition which oversees the nation’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps.  Earlier in her career she spent a number of years at the Office of Management and Budget and the Social Security Administration. She received her bachelor’s degree from Saint Mary’s College and her master’s degree from the John Hopkins University.