One of the most high-profile communicators on Capitol Hill — and in social media —  is leaving to go back to writing under her own name.  

Amanda Carpenter, who has been the communications director for Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, in his Senate office since October, announced Tuesday in a message to colleagues that with her boss’s presidential campaign team running full-speed ahead, she plans to return to conservative commentary.  

Carpenter is leaving Cruz’s office on July 5, according to the message obtained by Roll Call.  

“Looking back, I’m especially grateful for the opportunity to create #MakeDCListen, help with Sen. Cruz’s Gridiron speech, and contribute to his flawless presidential launch — as well as countless other memorable tweets, jokes, lines, talkers, statements, op-eds, and other items. We’ve been in high gear since Day 1 and I’m very proud of what we’ve done together,” Carpenter wrote.  

“Thank you for everything, from the bottom of my heart. When I came to Capitol Hill I never imagined just how good the coming years would be. For those of you who I have worked with since the DeMint office, this parting will be particularly bittersweet,” she added. “Taking on the DC establishment is no easy task and it’s been a joy every step of the way.”  

Carpenter had been a senior communications adviser and speechwriter for Cruz, a position that followed work for then-Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C. DeMint left the Senate to become president of The Heritage Foundation.  

She said she looked forward to helping to find a successor, and while she did not offer specifics about her next steps, she encouraged her colleagues to pitch her on column ideas. Carpenter will take her more than 56,000 Twitter followers — the most of any staffer on the Capitol Hill — with her to that next adventure.  

“As some of you know, back in 2010 when I first came to Capitol Hill to be Sen. DeMint’s speechwriter, my plan was to only stay a couple years and then return to media. Because I was offered the extraordinary opportunity to work for Sen. Cruz that extended into five years, now going on six years,” Carpenter said in her note. “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and now that the campaign is fully operational in Houston with a first-rate team, it’s a natural time for me to step away and return to writing under my own byline.”

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