And you wonder why I have to curb my desire to lecture?” (July 31st, 2024) So, please don’t curb such desire. You describe a politician’s small office staffing in your “Grand Illusion” series. Please expand on your experiences in the US Congress; specifically the elements/expertise that usually makes up the staff of a U.S. Representative’s office staff and/or a U.S. Senator’s office staff. How/why are these people chosen by the politician?
After the rather poor reception of /The Green Progression, I doubt that I’ll write about contemporary or even near future U.S. politics. Since I know something about staffing a U.S. Representative’s staff, I can give you a general outline of the key personnel, at least at the time I was a staff director. Usually, the head of the office is the staff director, once called the A.A.(administrative assistant). Then most offices have a media/press aide, a legislative assistant, a chief caseworker, and the appointments/personal secretary to the Representative. These positions can overlap. When I was in charge of the office, I was effectively the head legislative assistant. My successor as staff director was the press/media aide. There is almost always an office in the district (sometimes two in large rural districts), with several staff members there. As I recall (it was 40 years ago), the total number of employees was 18 (including those in district offices), but there was also a total salary cap for staffers. Unpaid interns didn’t count against the cap; so there were usually a few of those, but not that many, because the D.C. employees had to fit into two staff rooms. There were usually other staffers with assorted duties. For new Congressmen or Congresswomen, usually a few campaign aides ended up as staff, depending on abilities. Others are picked for needed expertise. Salaries and duties are determined by the Representative, and the only real limits are the number of staff and the total staff pay ceiling.
