Inside Congressional Committees by Maya Kornberg

Author:Maya Kornberg
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: POL006000, POLITICAL SCIENCE / American Government / Legislative Branch, POL016000, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Political Process / General
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Published: 2023-02-14T00:00:00+00:00

Staff Education

No less important than committee member learning are the members of the personal staff of the members of Congress (who attend more frequently than their bosses!), many of whom told me that they come to the hearings to learn, and this in turn affects their work for their respective members. This effect reaffirms previous work about the significance of staff members in the study of congressional learning. Richard Hall explains that “much of what the members do in person is prefigured by the options and information that staffers supply. . . . The study of legislative participation, then, must extend not only to the member but to the enterprise.”8 Jesse Crosson et al. echo this point in their study of congressional staff, writing that “staffers serve as a legislator’s engines of policy production, as they draft bills, seek out cosponsors, meet with lobbyists and network with other key staffers.”9

The staff members reflected on how important hearings can be in teaching them about topics. A personal staffer on the House Agriculture Committee said, “Some of these witnesses have very narrow expertise. They bring that technical expertise that I would not get somewhere else.” The other staff interviews confirmed this observation, each underscoring how they learn from hearings.

The information that staffers learn affects members of Congress in several ways. First, the staffers learn in order to inform their bosses. One personal staffer on the House Science Committee said, “What matters more than what [the congressman] hears from the witnesses is what I hear from the witnesses because he is relying on me to pay closer attention because it is my job to advise him.” A Democratic congressman on the House Science Committee underscored the importance of staff learning. In his opinion, staff briefings are one of the most effective learning tools because the staffers in attendance learn and shape their bosses’ behavior. Both he and Doudna, the renowned expert on genetic editing and former witness, referenced a staff briefing that arose as a result of that hearing. They both spoke of the importance of this briefing, citing its ability to educate staffers, who would then inform the congressional members. A staffer on the Senate Finance Committee explained, “You are there to do your research, make sure you’re prepared for everything that may come up and that the member is not surprised by anything or caught off guard by anything. . . . [You want to make sure that the member] knows what to expect and really is just looking their smartest right at the committee.” Carol Weiss’s in-depth study of committee staff dynamics uncovered a similar trend. She writes that “staff know that their bosses do not want to be taken by surprise. If new evidence becomes public of which she is not aware, and if that evidence is cited to support the opposition’s argument, there are going to be complaints about staff work.”10 Weiss’s account highlights the importance staffers place on obtaining information to inform their bosses. One of the

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