Admin Table of Contents
What are the duties of committee staff members?
Committee Member Responsibilities
- Review all relevant material before committee meetings.
- Attend committee meetings and voice objective opinions on issues.
- Pay attention to association activities that affect or are affected by the committee’s work.
What is a professional staff member Congress?
Professional Staff Members: These are experts in specific policy areas. They perform many of the same functions as Counsel and may work with outside groups, Members of Congress, and executive branch officials.
What is the role of congressional support agencies?
GAO noted that: (1) its mission is to oversee the executive branch and ensure efficient government-wide management and accountability, prevent duplicative work among other support agencies, and alert Congress to potential problem areas; (2) recent operational improvements include increased prioritization of work.
What agencies perform support services for Congress?
The House works closely with a variety of partners including the Senate, Library of Congress, Architect of the Capitol, Congressional Budget Office, Congressional Research Service, Government Printing Office and Government Accountability Office. These agencies provide assistance to and support services for Congress.
Are congressional staffers federal civilian employees?
There are about 31,000 congressional staffers within the Legislative Branch. While congressional staffers are federal employees, as a group they are quite different from their Executive Branch counterparts.
What do staff and support agencies do within Congress?
These agencies each assist committees, Members of both chambers, and their staff by providing nonpartisan research and analysis. The Congressional Research Service (CRS) is the public policy research arm of Congress.
What do Congressional support agencies do?
These offices perform legislative, administrative, financial, and ceremonial functions. They also ensure the protection of Congress and preserve its institutional memory. The roles of House support offices have been established by House Rules, statute, and custom.
What are the three congressional staff agencies?
Three congressional staff agencies are the Congressional Research Service/CRS (it provides members with nonpartisan information and provides electronically information about new bills), the General Accounting Office/GAO (The major function of this agency is that it watches what the white house does.
What role do congressional staffers play in the legislative process?
Chief of staff or administrative assistant: This staff member reports directly to the Member of Congress and usually has overall responsibility for evaluating the political outcomes of various legislative proposals and constituent requests.