Congressional staff


Congressional staff are employees of the United States Congress or individual members of Congress.

History

Before the American Civil War, members of Congress did not have staff assistance or even offices, and "most members worked at their desks on the floor."
In 1891, Congress had a total of 146 staff members: 37 Senate personal staff, 39 Senate committee staff, and 62 House committee staff. The House first approved personal staff for Representatives in 1893. By the beginning of the 20th century, congressional staff had become a well-accepted feature of congressional operations.
In 1943, House committees employed 114 staff members, while Senate committees employed 190 staff members. The size of individual members' personal staffs were still relatively small, with the average senator having six staffers and representatives limited to having five staffers. In the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946, which reformed Congress and greatly reduced the number of congressional committees, Congress expressly authorized permanent, professional committee staff for the first time. The act provided for a much-needed increase in committee staff, allowing for up to four professional and six clerical staff members for each standing committee, except for the appropriations committees. The 1946 act also reorganized the Library of Congress and created the Legislative Reference Service as a distinct entity. The size of both personal and committee staff increased considerably after the passage of the Legislative Reorganization Act. Following the significant increase in 1947, there was gradual growth in the number of both kinds of staff for about twenty years. Increased staff specialization also occurred during this period of slow growth.
In the 1970s, there was again a sharp jump in the number of staff. This was a response "in part to increased workloads and in part to confrontation with the executive branch on various issues, including the president's impoundment of funds and the Watergate crisis." The political scientist Morris P. Fiorina, in his book Congress: Keystone of the Washington Establishment, found that the number of congressional staff more than doubled between 1960 and 1974. The increase was mostly in district or state offices; the percentage of congressional staff who worked in a district office went from 14% in 1960 to 34% in 1974.
In the 1970s and 1990s, "staff numbers generally held level and increases were held down. After 1995, staff numbers actually decreased slightly."

Types of staff members

classifies staff members into five categories:
In the year 2000, there were approximately 11,692 personal staff, 2,492 committee staff, 274 leadership staff, 5,034 institutional staff, and 3,500 GAO employees, 747 CRS employees, and 232 CBO employees.

Personal staff

In 2000, the average Representative hired 14 staff members, while the average Senator hired 34. In 2000, Representatives had a limit of 18 full-time and four part-time staffers; Senators had no limit on staff. Budgets for staff were determined by the population of the state; Senators from California, the most populous state, get more money for staff than Senators from Wyoming, the least populous state. Members can choose how to distribute staff between their Washington office and their United States congressional district home office or offices.
The Congressional Management Foundation, a Washington-based research and management nonprofit organization, conducted surveys on congressional salaries. The table below gives average annual salaries in the year 2000. Also below is a list of annual House salaries and the number of staffers with particular titles in 2009 as calculated by Daniel Schuman of the Sunlight Foundation. The numbers are drawn from the House of Representative's Statement of Disbursements of the House, July 1, 2009 through September 30, 2009.
Quarterly earnings were multiplied by four to obtain annual salaries, so the data omits bonuses and does not account for staffers who did not work the entire quarter; staffers who carried different titles for the same job, or staffers changing jobs during the quarter. The chart also omits committee staff and a number of job titles that could not easily be classified or had less than 50 people.
TitleAverage House annual salary Average Senate annual salary Average House annual salary House staffers with title Description
Chief of staff$97,619$116,573$120,051.55399"Runs the office and is the Member's top political advisor." An alternate title is Administrative assistant.
Deputy chief of staff$84,346.63291An alternate title is Administrative assistant.
Legislative director$61,075$91,438$72,137.79306"Plans legislative initiatives and strategies; supervises other legislative staff."
Senior legislative assistant$57,133.94101
Legislative assistant$37,321$48,276$43,189.28773"Specializes in specific issues, monitoring bills and committee meetings in those areas; drafts floor statements and responses to constituent mail."
Legislative correspondent$26,745$25,226$31,951.03347"Answers all constituent communications; drafts routine responses."
Press secretary/
communications director
$45,301$65,362-
Press secretary$50,524.05164-
Communications director$58,359.05207-
District representative$45,758.97142-
Executive/personal assistant$41,068$50,000$51,339.82136"Right-hand to the Member; in many cases also the scheduler."
Office manager$44,009$57,330"Supervises support staff; manages official accounts; buys/maintains equipment."
Scheduler$41,344.56140An alternate title is Administrative assistant.
Computer systems/mail manager$30,205$39,612"Maintains the computer network and correspondence management system."
State/district director$61,152$73,872$84,346.63291"Heads home state office; political liaison to local community."
Deputy district director$61,389.9373
Projects/grants coordinator$37,300$44,000"Seeks federal funding for District/State projects and institutions."
Caseworker$31,341$29,980$40,898.49307-
Constituent services representative$38,872.48145-
Staff assistant$29,890.541072-
Congressional aide$39,906.24123-
Field representatives$40,138.49266-
Legislative counsel$51,814.6753-

Not all offices have the same type of organization, and different titles may be used for substantially similar jobs. Common jobs are:
Each congressional committee has a staff, of varying sizes. Appropriations for committee staff are made in annual legislative appropriations bills. Majority and minority members hire their own staff except on two select committees in each house - the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct and Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in the House and the Select Committee on Ethics and Senate Select Committee on Intelligence in the Senate. These committees have a single staff.
In 2000, House committees had an average of 68 staff and Senate committees an average of 46. Committee staff includes both staff directors, committee counsel, committee investigators, press secretaries, chief clerks and office managers, schedules, documents clerks, and assistant.

Safety and security

Like members of Congress, congressional staff have occasionally been the targets of violence or threats of violence. Between 1789 and 2011, there were five incidents affecting some congressional staff alongside members of Congress. The following recorded incidents of violence against congressional staff have taken place: