WASHINGTON -- Two more Arkansas Republicans are moving to the nation's capital to serve in President Donald Trump's administration.
Judd Deere, 29, is taking a job with the White House press office after three years as Attorney General Leslie Rutledge's spokesman. Starting Nov. 27, the Benton native will be Trump's director of state and local communications.
Former state Rep. Dan Greenberg, 51, started work Monday as a senior policy adviser at the U.S. Department of Labor.
Deere is the third person with strong Arkansas ties to join Trump's media team. Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders is a Little Rock native. Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley grew up in El Dorado.
A graduate of Lyon College in Batesville, Deere worked as a field director for the Republican Party of Arkansas during the 2010 elections, later joining the staff of U.S. Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., and U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho.
In 2014, he joined Tim Griffin's successful campaign for lieutenant governor, serving as communications director and deputy campaign manager.
Since December 2014, he has worked for Rutledge.
Deere said he'll spend Thanksgiving in Arkansas and then head east.
"It's an exciting opportunity to join the team at the White House and the administration, and I'm looking forward to it," he said.
Rutledge, in a written statement, said she is "thrilled that Judd will be able to use his talent and expertise to communicate to millions of Americans on behalf of the White House."
Griffin also welcomed the news.
"Judd was a critical part of my 2014 race. ... He demonstrated excellence and grace under pressure and was a joy to be around," the lieutenant governor said in a text message. "He will serve President Trump and the American people well at this historic time."
Greenberg, whose home is in Little Rock, is no stranger to Washington politics.
He worked for U.S. Reps. Jay Dickey and Tim Hutchinson in the 1990s, later spending time with the Heritage Foundation and the Cato Institute.
A graduate of Brown University, Bowling Green State University and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock's W.H. Bowen School of Law, he has led the Advance Arkansas Institute, a conservative think tank.
The son of Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial writer Paul Greenberg, he served four years on the Pulaski County Quorum Court and four years in the General Assembly.
More recently, he was chairman of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board.
In Washington, he works in the office of the assistant secretary for policy. Among other things, he'll be helping to lead the department's initiative to identify areas in which occupational licenses hinder job growth.
"The reform of over-extensive and burdensome occupational licensing is a great interest of the secretary of labor's ... and for some years, it's been an interest of mine," Greenberg said.
The capital is bigger and more expensive than the last time he lived there, he noted, but he's enjoying the adventure thus far.
Greenberg's new job was initially reported by the Arkansas Times blog.
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