Names: Lynne Weil to join USAID

Posted By Josh Rogin Friday, March 19, 2010 - 10:03 AM Share

Lynne Weil confirms to The Cable that she'll be moving on from her post as communications director for the House Foreign Affairs Committee and its chairman Howard Berman to take over the press shop at USAID. The move was first reported by the Washington Post's Al Kamen.

"Bad news usually travels fast, so it's nice when good news does, too," she wrote in by email. "There's lots of the latter to be told about the work of USAID; I'm eager to have a role in that, along with other things."

Here's how Kamen describes the current staffing situation at the agency:

The beleaguered Agency of International Development is awaiting the arrival of some assistant administrators to give the new boss, Rajiv Shah, some help in restoring the dysfunctional shop to at least some semblance of robust health (he is a doctor, after all). In the meantime, he's been filling the ranks of his inner circle, bringing in as his chief of staff Sean Carroll, former program director for the Club of Madrid, a nongovernmental group promoting democracy.

We're hearing that the White House and the State Department both cleared Weil's appointment over the past week and she gave notice to Berman on Wednesday. Weil also worked for the late Rep. Tom Lantos, former Sen. Joe Biden, and was a reporter for some 15 years.

We're also told that Maura O'Neill is now counselor and chief innovation officer at USAID. She was with Shah at USDA and remains a key figure in his circle.