Ask a Congressional staffer anything

[the natural mystic]

how much corruption do you see on a daily basis (if any)?

 

[cornzilla]

Do you know a Nancy? Also a UCLA grad class of 10'

 

[thorrocksjs]

Who can we contact to stop the NDAA.What steps can we take to repell it,Where should we mail our letters and when is it a good time to mobilize.

 

[bigballinnv]

Originally Posted by villansfinest

Do representatives/legislators read bills and laws before they vote on them, or do they rely on you to read the actual document and then summarize it for them?

Is money important?


Do you notice a change in your representative before campaign season as opposed to after campaign season?

Is your representative important, or does your representative belong to caucuses that have essentially predetermined how your representative will vote?

Let me start by saying I'm definitely not a senior advisor or anything; any information I have that you couldn't at least infer from reading a lot newspapers is generally information trickled down from my staff director or just things I overhear in meetings.  Also, my experience is limited entirely to the Upper Chamber, but I would think everything still applies.

I'm sure every representative's office is different in how they handle researching/voting on legislation but I think in most cases the heavy lifting of preparing for votes is done by a Member's staff.  I'd also be shocked to find out a Member literally wrote one of their own pieces of legislation.  There is a tremendous amount of work required to prepare any sort of substantive legislation.

Is money important?  Absolutely.  Reason being relates strongly to your next two questions.  My overarching belief about elected officials is they are driven by the primary goal of re-election.  There's a book Congress: The Electoral Connection by David Mayhew that presents this argument way better than I ever could.  http://wikisum.com/w/Mayhew:_Congress if you want cliffs.  Neither of the two Senators that my committee works closely with are up in the 2012 election cycle but from what I have seen with other Members and their staffs there is a fairly large increase in activity when a Member is up for re-election, whether they are official in campaign mode or not.  Greater attendance at various meetings and events, more statements on the Senate floor, etc.  Any time an elected official in an election cycle says that an upcoming election had zero influence on an vote, or whatever action, they are categorically lying.  And that holds true for R's, D's and independents.  It's possible that the election wasn't at the forefront of their mind, but it is always considered.

Since the committee I work for serves party leadership they would be the ones throwing around the muscle.  I've never seen it or heard any details about a specific instance of it, but I'm sure it happens.  Party leadership controls committee assignments and a lot of campaign money, so again it comes down to the importance of re-election.  As a Member looking to keep my job or thinking about an even higher office I need money, lots of it.  Cushy committee assignments or Chair positions where I can hook up my state or district and campaign money from the party are a must.  So does party affiliation predetermines votes?  No, but Members aren't acting without party influence.  At least that's how I see things.

Hope I've answered all your questions decently.  I've been surprised at the quality of questions, I figured there would be a lot of douchebaggery.  Keep them coming if you've got more.  I'm enjoying it.