CAPITOL HILL 101
THE KEY STAFF POSITIONS
IN A CONGRESSIONAL OFFICE
• Committee and Subcommittee Staff: Each committee and subcommittee
have their own legislative staff, and more than member’s own staff, they are
more involved in drafting legislation and holding hearings. They are valuable to
talk with or meet to discuss legislation, but not for the purpose of asking a
member to vote for/against a bill.
• Receptionist: When you call and just ask that the Congressman support or
oppose a bill, the receptionist will usually be the one who assists you. But the
receptionist will just add your opinion to a list showing that X number of people
called in favor and X against an issue. For greater influence, talk to the LA
handling your issue as described above.
• District Staff: Members have one or more offices in their district or state,
staffed by a few people. These staff are often easy to arrange to meet with (and
you won’t have to travel far!), and be sure to ask them to have the member
write you a reply as a confirmation that the staff reported the meeting to the
member. District offices receive fewer phone calls so targeting such offices for
calls will make a greater impression (positively or negatively) than calls to their
U.S. Capitol office.
• Caseworker: Works with constituents to solve problem with federal (not
state/local) agencies as Social Security, Medicare, etc. The caseworker usually
works at the Congressman’s district office. Sometimes a call or letter from a
Congressman’s office can get action where your efforts have failed.