Heading up member services is a “chameleon position,” Alyssa Erdel says — highly adaptable depending on the vision of the lawmaker in charge, whether for the House’s Republican Conference or in a committee. “My mission is always the same: I listen, identify what's missing, build trusted relationships, solve problems, and fill voids,” Erdel said. Erdel...
Advancing any legislation with a slim Republican majority is a challenge, but navigating the variety of GOP viewpoints while trying to advance appropriations bills adds a new layer of difficulty. For Marcus Towns, the member services director for the House Appropriations Committee, it helps to be a people person. “It's a very personality-driven job,” Towns...
Andrew Bower followed Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) from his personal office to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee as Democrats elevated a fresh face, and with him, a fresh new approach to investigations. The committee has faced an avalanche of issues, but it's the probe into deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein that Bower said “has...
Carrie Hughes knows she is somewhat of a rarity on Capitol Hill. Her first job as a congressional aide was in the office of Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.). Eighteen years later, he’s the only member she has worked for. Hughes started in Scott’s personal office and now serves as the director of Health and...
Jessica Hayes said serving in Georgia’s 10th Congressional District during the chaotic and deadly U.S. evacuation of Afghanistan in August 2021 was a “holy calling.” Now a senior adviser working in the 9th District for Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.), Hayes was working for former Rep. Jody Hice (R-Ga.) when the office started getting calls from...
Leah Hill is no stranger to a tough crowd. The legislative director for Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) started her career teaching first- and second-graders in Chicago with Teach for America. But the issues facing her classroom felt too big to ignore, and she became curious about how lawmakers in Springfield, Ill., and Washington were making...
Few Capitol Hill staffers can match Raymond O’Mara and say they’ve worked at the leadership level in the Senate and the House, and even fewer can say they have worked in Congress from as many vantage points as he has. O’Mara now serves as the top policy staffer for Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.),...
Justice Samuel Alito called the Supreme Court's refusal to lift a universal injunction against Trump's mail-in ballot rules incorrect in a sharp dissent.
Democratic lawmakers push to restrict data centers over water use and electricity bills while Republicans highlight AI race benefits and local control.
President Donald Trump's $5,000 dividend check proposal drew sharp reactions from voters, with some calling it a publicity stunt unlikely to pass Congress.
