Two Cox Aides Joining Staff of Dick Cheney

Rep. Christopher Cox has said he isn’t leaving the House for a job in the new administration of President-elect George W. Bush--but two of his staffers are.

C. Dean McGrath Jr., chief of staff to Cox (R-Newport Beach), has been named deputy chief of staff to Vice President-elect Dick Cheney.

Lewis “Scooter” Libby, formerly legal advisor to Cox’s select committee on U.S. national security and military/commercial concerns, was named Dec. 28 as Cheney’s chief of staff and assistant for national security affairs.

Cox praised both for “high professional standards” and creating bipartisan support for national security policies.

McGrath, 47, teaches law at Georgetown University and was deputy assistant to President George Bush, according to a press release issued Friday by Cox’s office. McGrath also served as general counsel of the U.S. Peace Corps; associate counsel to President Ronald Reagan, where he worked with Cox; and attorney advisor to the treasury department. He joined Cox’s staff in 1996.

Libby, 50, was managing partner of an international law firm and a deputy undersecretary and principal deputy undersecretary in the Department of Defense. He is the author of the 1996 novel “The Apprentice.”

Replacing McGrath as Cox’s chief of staff is Peter Uhlmann, 31, legislative director for Cox in the congressman’s role as House policy chairman.