Congress staff are divided into five categories: personal, committee, executive, institutional, and support agency staff. Personal staff manage the congressional office of a member of Congress, while committee staff assist with the workload of committees. Institutional staff keep Congress running and support agency staff work for nonpartisan congressional agencies. There were about 24,000 congressional staff members in 2011, and staffing levels have changed over time.
There are five main categories of congress staff: personal staff, committee staff, executive staff, institutional staff and support agency staff. Within each category, there is a wide variety of positions, ranging from chief of staff to janitors and the Capitol Police. A large number of employed personnel are partisan and are tied to a particular party or member of Congress, but there are also a large number of non-partisan personnel whose role is to keep Congress running.
According to the Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN), there were about 24,000 congressional staff members in 2011. Overall staffing levels have changed over the centuries. The numbers were relatively low in the 19th century but expanded during the 1930s and expanded to their most recent highs in the 1970s.
Personal staff are the congressional staff hired by each member of Congress to manage their congressional office. This staff is divided into two basic types: Washington DC staff and district staff. The district staff includes the district manager and those covering the congressman’s constituency.
Historically, there was little personal staff within Congress. In 1893, each member of Congress was allowed to hire only two official officers. This grew to 18 staff members and four temporary employees by 1979. Staff levels and office structure vary from Congressman to Congressman.
Many congressional offices are overseen by the Chief of Staff. Below the Chief of Staff are the Legislative, Communications and Case Work teams. Congressmen also tend to hire personal secretaries, congressional aides, and a legislative adviser.
The staff of the committee was first authorized in 1830, although there were no permanent employees until 1856. Each member of a committee, whether of the majority or minority party, hires clerks, press secretaries, researchers and investigators, and a consultant to help with the workload a committee is involved. These workers tend to be hired because of their specific knowledge related to the committee’s interests. There are, however, four committees on which members may not hire their own staff: the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, the House Standing Committee on Intelligence, the Senate Select Committee on Ethics, and the Senate Select Committee on Senate on Intelligence.
The institutional staff is the congress staff who keep the Congress running. They are divided into partisan and non-partisan personnel. Partisan personnel are hired by the majority and minority leaders of both the House and Senate to help them organize both houses and keep legislation moving. Both majority and minority also hire institutional staff to help them push members to vote the right way.
There are many types of non-partisan institutional staff members. First, there is the Capitol Police, which maintain order and deal with all criminal matters. There is also an office called the “Architect of the Capitol”, which includes all the cleaning and maintenance personnel who deal with the physical structure of the institution itself.
Support agency staff are nonpartisan and work for several congressional agencies, including the Congressional Research Service, the Government Accountability Office, and the Congressional Budget Office. While the head of each agency is appointed by, or in conjunction with, members of Congress, each agency is expected to be nonpartisan and objective. Staff members of these agencies provide research and information to members of Congress from all political parties.
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