Members of Congress cannot personally read every bill, attend every meeting, or answer every letter. Staff do much of that work. In a Congress that handles thousands of bills, a federal budget in the trillions, and constituents numbering more than 700,000 per House district, staff are the people who make the institution function.
This guide explains the main types of congressional staff, what they do day to day, how they are hired and paid, and the rules they work under.
A chief of staff manages the office and advises the member on politics and policy. A legislative director and legislative assistants track bills and issues, draft legislation, and prepare the member for votes. Communications staff handle the press and social media, schedulers manage the member's time, and staff assistants answer phones and greet visitors. House offices are funded by a Members' Representational Allowance and may employ up to 18 permanent staff, while Senate offices, funded by allowances based on state population, are often larger.
Committee staff are divided between the majority and the minority and include lawyers, economists, and subject experts who often stay through many Congresses. They draft bills and amendments, prepare hearings, conduct investigations, and negotiate legislative text with the other chamber and the executive branch. Leadership staff help party leaders manage the floor, count votes, and set strategy.
Congressional staff fall into four groups: personal staff in each member's Washington and district offices, committee staff, leadership staff who work for party leaders, and institutional staff who serve the House or Senate as a whole. Staff are hired and can be fired at will by the member or committee that employs them, and they are not part of the executive branch civil service.
Congressional staff are typically young, and turnover is high, with many staff leaving for better-paid jobs in lobbying or the private sector. Since the 1990s Congress has cut committee staff and abolished its technology advisory office, while the executive branch it oversees has grown. The House raised minimum staff pay in 2022. Supporters of more resources argue Congress needs experienced staff to legislate and conduct oversight on equal footing with agencies and lobbyists, while others say spending on Congress itself should remain lean.
Institutional staff include the parliamentarians, the clerks and floor staff, legislative counsel who draft bill text, and the employees of the support agencies. The Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 applied workplace laws to Congress, enforced by the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights. Staff must follow ethics rules on gifts and outside income, senior staff file financial disclosures, and former senior staff face cooling-off periods before lobbying their former offices.
District and state offices handle casework, helping constituents who have problems with federal agencies. Common cases involve delayed Social Security or disability payments, veterans' benefits, tax refunds, passports, and immigration applications. Caseworkers cannot override an agency's decision but can make inquiries and ask agencies to review a case. Casework is a large part of what offices do and an important source of members' popularity.
See the institution they serve in how Congress works, meet the nonpartisan agencies in Congress's support agencies, or learn how to reach an office in how to contact your representatives.