Facebook snuggles with Washington with Bush-era hires

Facebook said it has hired a former Bush administration official to help it head up its Washington operations, placing the company closer to policy makers.

Joel Kaplan as vice-president for U.S. public policy to head up its office in Washington, the company said.

Kaplan, who served as deputy chief of staff under former President George W. Bush, will be in charge of Facebook's relations with federal and state policymakers.

Kaplan, who will begin in his new role from June 13, is currently executive vice-president of energy future holdings.

Facebook also hired Myriah Jordan as a policy manager to focus primarily on congressional relations.

Jordan, also a former Bush administration official, was most recently general counsel to North Carolina Republican Senator Richard Burr.

Jordan takes over managing Facebook's congressional relations duties, along with Tim Sparapani, from Cathie Martin, who is on a leave of absence to tend to personal matters.

This is not the first time Facebook has hired Washington hands.

Facebook has snagged a White House economic advisor to serve as its new vice president of global public policy in June last year.

Marne Levine is the special assistant to the president for economic policy and chief of staff for the National Economic Council at the White House.