After several weeks of searching, House Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) has tapped longtime lobbyist David Hebert to be his next chief of staff.

Hebert has served since 1995 as director of federal government affairs for the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists. He will take over the Whip office July 7, replacing Gregg Hartley, who is leaving the Hill to join the lobbying shop Cassidy & Associates.

“I am excited about the expertise that Dave Hebert brings to the Whip’s office,” Blunt said. “We have a great team in place, and Dave will lead that team well. We’re looking forward to having him on board.”

This won’t be Hebert’s first stint with the Show Me State delegation. In 1987 and 1988, he worked on then-Missouri Rep. Jack Buechner’s (R) staff, serving as legislative assistant and then legislative director. The year before that, Hebert was an LA to then-Rep. Steve Bartlett (R-Texas).

In 1988, Hebert left the Hill for a seven-year stint as counsel to the National Association of Insurance Agents and Financial Advisors.

After moving to the AANA in 1995, Hebert became a key player in the health care lobbying community, helping to run the Patient Access to Responsible Care Alliance, a coalition of groups pushing for managed care reform.

Hebert has been close to Blunt and his staff for several years and has already aided the Whip operation during the 108th Congress.

Working with Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.), the Deputy Whip in charge of coalitions, Hebert served as part of a group of lobbyists tasked with drumming up support for the medical malpractice measure that passed the House in March.

Hebert, 45, was born in Michigan and has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Oregon and a law degree from Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif. In 1983, he was named an “Outstanding Young Man of America” by the Jaycees.