The following three people have been appointed to the Democratic staff of the Senate Appropriations Committee:

Charles Kieffer has been named staff director. He has also worked as the committee’s staff director previously. He was minority staff director of the Homeland Security Subcommittee. He has also served as special assistant to the director and acting associate director of legislative affairs at the Office of Management and Budget under Presidents Ronald Reagan, George Bush and Bill Clinton. He was a budget analyst for the Health and Human Services Department under Presidents Jimmy Carter and Reagan.

Gabrielle Batkin has been named deputy staff director. She was a staff member. She has also served as clerk of the Commerce, Justice and Science Subcommittee. She was an analyst on the Democratic staff of the Senate Budget Committee. She served as a special projects assistant for Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg, D-N.J. She worked as a legislative assistant for Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., D-N.J.

Margaret Cummisky has been named general counsel. She was the committee’s staff director. She has also served as staff director and chief counsel for the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. She was legislative director for the late Democratic Sen. Daniel K. Inouye of Hawaii.

Martin Frost has been elected chairman of the board of directors at the National Endowment for Democracy. Frost is a shareholder at Polsinelli Shughart, a law and lobbying firm. He was also a Democratic congressman in the House representing Texas. He worked as president of America Votes during the 2008 election cycle. He was also a reporter at the Wilmington News-Journal and at Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report.

Jamie Baker has been named chairman of Baker Botts. He was international partner and partner in charge of the Washington office. He also has worked as counsel in the leadership office of late Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va.

John Taladay has been named partner in charge of Baker Bott’s Washington office. He was a partner and co-chairman of the antitrust practice. He has also worked as a partner at Howrey. He served as a partner at Collier, Shannon, Rill & Scott. He was international legal counsel at the Paris headquarters of Vivendi Universal.

Stephanie Wade has been hired as counsel in the trademark practice group at Sughrue Mion. Wade was a partner in the intellectual property practice at Dickstein Shapiro, a law and lobbying firm.

Gabrielle Roth has been hired as a partner in the trademark practice group at Sughrue Mion. Roth also was a partner in the intellectual property practice at Dickstein Shapiro.

Keri McWilliams has joined the franchise and distribution practice at Nixon Peabody as an associate. McWilliams was a senior associate in the franchise, litigation and intellectual property litigation groups at Fredrikson & Byron. She has also worked as a law clerk at the National School Boards Association’s office of general counsel.

Robert Bimonte has been promoted to president of the National Catholic Educational Association. Bimonte is the executive vice president of the NCEA. He has worked at the secretary of Catholic education in the Diocese of Buffalo. He also has served as secretary of education for the Christian Brothers Conference.