Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann is hiring. Wracked by a series of staff departures, the Minnesota Republican announced Monday that she's added political veterans Ron Thomas and Guy Short to her campaign payroll. Thomas will be her senior adviser for South Carolina, and Short, who is already involved in her campaign, will take over as national political director. The campaign says the new additions are part of an effort to grow in the early caucus and primary states.

Thomas, a prominent South Carolina GOP Party figure, served as a deputy assistant secretary in the Department of Veterans Affairs under President George W. Bush.

Short, who served as an aide to former U.S. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, R-Colo., has been serving as a senior adviser in Bachmann's presidential campaign since her announcement in June. He was also a general consultant in her 2010 congressional campaign.