Sen. Ted Cruz has a new communications director in his Senate shop, but it’s a familiar face. Amanda Carpenter, the most-followed congressional staffer on Twitter, is getting a title that aligns more with her recent duties.  

Not surprisingly, Carpenter, who has been senior communications adviser and speechwriter — highlighted the new title in a Tweet:

A new photo to celebrate my new title: Communications Director! I’m thrilled about the promotion and ever so grateful to work w/ Team Cruz.

— Amanda Carpenter (@amandacarpenter) October 14, 2014

When CQ Roll Call profiled Carpenter in February , she conceded that the Texas Republican’s office offered her more freedom to use her own voice on social media than many other staffers, something attributable not only to Cruz and her former Senate boss, Jim DeMint, R-S.C., but to her history as a conservative columnist and a fresh face of conservative media. “This office has allowed me to be fairly vocal on social media in a way that other offices don’t allow their staffs to do,” Carpenter said in an interview for that profile. “But this is the model. We want to be making our argument, making our case, pretty vocally and when we are not the popular voice in Washington it’s more important than ever for us to communicate what we are doing and why so people can understand it and it’s not viewed as ‘Oh, Cruz is just causing trouble.’ No, here is the explanation behind it.”  

While it would be quite unusual for a Senate aide to make the rounds on cable news, Carpenter’s personal experience appearing before the TV cameras could prove a boon to Cruz in 2016 should he choose to pursue another office, one where aides and advisers often dominate the campaign airwaves.  

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