Who’s Who in a Congressional Office

You’ve written emails, maybe written a letter to the editor of your local newspaper, and now you’re ready to climb to the next rung on the ladder of engagement by getting in touch with someone on the staff in your representative’s office in Washington. Who should you talk to? The average representative has about 18 permanent staff distributed between Washington and the district office. Because senators represent more people, they tend to have a larger staff.

The Scheduler

If you are coming to Washington, one approach is to start by simply requesting a meeting with your representative. The representative’s time is organized by a scheduler, who typically divides the schedule into 10 or 15 minute time slots and organizes a process to help the representative and chief of staff decide who gets to meet with the representative and for how long. Unless you know the representative personally, we recommend sending an email or fax to the scheduler with a specific request for a meeting.

The decision on whether you get to meet the representative on your first visit will depend on who you are (do you represent a large church, civic group or other organization?), who else is with you, what you want to talk about, and luck. Be sure to follow up your fax or email with a telephone call, or several until you reach the scheduler.

Many offices also hold weekly coffees or open meetings with the member. These meetings allow visitors from the district and state can participate in a group meeting with their elected officials as part of a group. The scheduler may suggest you participate in such a meeting, or you can ask about one.

The Legislative Assistant

The best person for you to meet with might be the legislative assistant (or LA) who is an expert on the issue you are lobbying on. A good approach can be to call up the office and ask for the specific person who covers the issue you are lobbying on or ask the scheduler if you can meet with that person.

If you reach a legislative assistant on the phone, you need to have a short, two minute explanation of who you are, what your concerns are, and why you think this issue is important to the district or state the member of Congress represents. Before you call, think about your goal. If you’re interested in a meeting, then get to the point and say “I’ll be in town in two weeks and I’d like 15 minutes of your time to talk about x.” If you want a longer phone briefing, ask respectfully if you can arrange a time for a longer conversation on the specific subject. It’s a good idea to get an email address, then follow-up with an email to confirm the meeting or phone call.

The Powerful Staff

The most powerful person in any congressional office after the member of Congress is the chief of staff, followed by the legislative director (who directs policy in the office) and then the legislative assistants and other policy staff (who may work on one or more issues). Yet you can’t always tell. Like many Quaker meetings or community groups, offices have informal power structures with “weighty” staff without clear titles who are important because they have been around for a long time or are personal friends of the representative. In addition, the legislative correspondents, staff assistants, and interns who answer the phones, greet people in the office and answer emails can be very important channels for getting you in touch with others in the office.

Use FCNL's Website to Find Names of Staff

FCNL’s online congressional directory provides a wealth of information that can help you identify the different staff working in Congressional offices and contact numbers for the office.

• Go to fcnl.org/congress and enter your ZIP code to see a list of your elected representatives.
• Select the the senator or representative you would like to lobby.
• Select the "Staff" tab.