Staff and Support Agencies Chapter 5 The Organization

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Staff and Support Agencies Chapter 5: The Organization of Congress

Staff and Support Agencies Chapter 5: The Organization of Congress

Congressional Staff Role • Staff members do most of the important work on legislation

Congressional Staff Role • Staff members do most of the important work on legislation • Lawmakers rely on their staff for: – Handling the growing workload of Congress – Communicating with voters – Helping with committee hearings – Drafting new bills – Helping with reelection

Congressional Staff Growth

Congressional Staff Growth

Personal Staff • Personal Staff members work directly for individual senators and representatives. •

Personal Staff • Personal Staff members work directly for individual senators and representatives. • Both houses receive an allowance for staff. – Lawmakers can hire and fire staff members at will. • Administrative Assistants (AA): – The AA runs the lawmaker’s office, supervises the lawmaker’s schedule and gives advice on political matters. – Deals with important people from lawmaker’s district or state.

Personal Staff • Legislative Assistants (LA): – Makes certain the lawmaker is well informed

Personal Staff • Legislative Assistants (LA): – Makes certain the lawmaker is well informed about the many bills with which she or he must deal. – Also assist with committee meetings & track the work that is taking place on the floor. • Caseworkers: – Staff members that handle the requests from people in the lawmaker’s state or district.

Committee Staff • Every committee and subcommittee in Congress has staff members. • Committee

Committee Staff • Every committee and subcommittee in Congress has staff members. • Committee staffers: – Draft bills – Collect info – Plan hearings • Too much power? -- study issues --write memos --write reports

Support Agencies • The Library of Congress – Created in 1800 – One of

Support Agencies • The Library of Congress – Created in 1800 – One of the largest libraries in the world – Contains more than 100 million items • Including: books, journals, music, films, photos, & maps • Congressional Budget Office (CBO) – Established 1974 – Coordinates the budget-making work of Congress

Library of Congress

Library of Congress

Support Agencies • General Accounting Office (GAO) – Established 1921 – Nation’s watchdog over

Support Agencies • General Accounting Office (GAO) – Established 1921 – Nation’s watchdog over spending of funds Congress appropriates. • Government Printing Office (GPO) – The largest multi-purpose printing plant in the world, prints for the entire federal government – Prints: Statistical Abstract of the United States every year since 1878. • Also, Congressional Record (daily)