U.S. Sen.-elect Claire McCaskill announced Tuesday that she has hired Sean Kennedy as her Chief of Staff.

As her release states, “Kennedy, 36, joins the McCaskill office after a two-year stint at the government relations office of SBC Communications (now AT&T). Prior to that, Kennedy worked as Legislative Director/Counsel to House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt.”

“I’m pleased Sean Kennedy is joining our team. His vast knowledge of the legislative process and his experience working for Congressman Gephardt for 9 years will be a tremendous asset to our operation,” McCaskill said. “Additionally, it is clear that Sean embraces the balance between making Missouri constituent services a top priority while at the same time putting forth an aggressive legislative agenda in Washington. I look forward to my office benefiting from that kind of leadership.”

McCaskill is expected to announce a number of new hires within the next few days. It’s unclear if Richard Martin, who managed her successful campaign to oust outgoing U.S. Sen. Jim Talent, R-Mo., will be one of them. For family reasons, Martin — a veteran Democratic operative and a former top official with Sprint in Kansas City — has chosen not to move to Washington.

Several other campaign operatives for McCaskill have accepted posts to work for her in Washington. They include: Deputy Campaign Manager Tod Martin of St. Louis, Missouri, who will serve as the Deputy Chief of Staff; Communications Director Adrianne Marsh, and Scheduler Angela Elsbury.