Legislative Offices

The elected officer who keeps the official records of the House, runs its votes and legislative paperwork, and presides at the start of each new Congress until a Speaker is chosen

The majority members who run congressional committees and the minority members who lead the opposition on each

The head of the Government Accountability Office, appointed to a single 15-year term and removable only by Congress, who audits federal spending for the legislative branch

The informal title given to the longest continuously serving member of the House of Representatives, who by custom swears in the Speaker at the start of each Congress

The six nonvoting members of the House who represent the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and four U.S. territories, with power to serve on committees but not to vote on final passage of bills

The chief law enforcement and protocol officers of each chamber of Congress, who keep order, oversee security, and can compel absent members to attend

The floor leaders of the two parties in the House: the Speaker's chief lieutenant and the leader of the opposition

The head of the Library of Congress, appointed by the President to a 10-year term, who oversees the national library, the Copyright Office, and the Congressional Research Service

The party officers in each chamber who count votes, keep members in line, and tell leaders whether a bill will pass

The 535 elected senators and representatives: their constitutional qualifications, terms, pay, privileges, and the rules that discipline them

The Senate's constitutional presiding officer in the Vice President's absence, by custom its most senior majority member, and third in line to the presidency

The elected chief administrative and legislative officer of the Senate, who keeps its records, manages its clerks and finances, and receives public disclosure filings

The leader of the majority party in the Senate, who controls the chamber's agenda through the right of first recognition

The leader of the minority party in the Senate, with more power to obstruct than any counterpart in the House

The presiding officer and leader of the House of Representatives, second in line to the presidency

The nonpartisan experts who advise the presiding officers of the House and Senate on rules and precedents, and whose rulings can decide what may pass by simple majority