In the past few months, Rep. Albert Wynn (D-Md.) has seen a number of staff shufflings and hirings in his office in the Cannon House Office Building.

The Representative from Maryland’s 4th district welcomed Alon Kupferman, his newest legislative director, in April. Kupferman has taken over legislative managerial duties for Energy and Commerce Committee issues as well as budget and tax, internal relations and other issues.

Kupferman, 25, is no tenderfoot to Wynn’s office, having worked for the Congressman since 2001 as a legislative assistant. The Diamond Bar, Calif., native graduated from Georgetown University in 2000 with a bachelor’s in political science.

The new legislative director will be working closely with Wynn’s two newest legislative assistants, Lori Pepper and Shawna Johnson.

Pepper, a 25 year-old from Baltimore, will work with the subcommittee on telecommunications and the Internet and will work on a number of legislative issues.

The University of Maryland at College Park graduate is another longtime Wynn staff member. She has worked as a case manager for the Congressman since December 2002 and as a campaign manager for Wynn since June of that year.

Johnson’s areas of expertise will include work with the Energy and Commerce subcommittee on environment and hazardous materials and the subcommittee on energy and air quality.

Hailing from Lanham, Md., Johnson graduated from Frostburg State University in December with a bachelor’s in international studies/international business. The 22-year-old has also worked at World Wide Retail Exchange.

Benjamin Branch joins the office as a staff assistant. His responsibilities will include assisting with constituent requests and coordinating White House and Capitol tours. Before joining Wynn’s office, Branch served as an intern for the Virginia General Assembly during the 2003 session and for former Sen. Chuck Robb (D-Va.).

Branch, 25, calls Petersburg, Va., his home. He graduated in December 2002 with a bachelor’s in political science from Old Dominion University.

Ten-Year Tenure. Paul Leonard, chief of staff for Rep. Mike Castle (R-Del.), announced that he will be leaving Castle’s office this month to take a position in the private sector.

Leonard, who has served the Congressman since Castle’s days as governor of Delaware, will become the new director of government affairs for the Housing Policy Council of the Financial Service Roundtable in Washington. Leonard’s move comes after more than 10 years of work in Castle’s office, where he served as a legislative director from 1993 to 1995 and then as chief of staff. He has also worked in the offices of then-Reps. Bill Carney (R-N.Y.) and Bill Lowery (R-Calif.).

Leonard, 46, is a 1978 graduate of the State University of New York at Oneonta with a bachelor’s in history and secondary education.