Dear Bureaupat,

I'm considering moving up in government. That is, up to Capitol Hill as a congressional staffer. Can you tell me whether or not congressional staffers are covered by a federal government pay plan?

Dear Hill-Bound,

Moving from the halls of the federal bureaucracy to the home of Congress beneath the Capitol dome is quite a move indeed. Though all part of the federal government, there are some key ways the jobs are different, including on the pay and benefits side.

While federal government employees are covered by a number of different pay systems, some established by individual laws, some by administrative determination, none of these will apply to you. Your salary will be determined by the member of Congress you work for and you'll be at the mercy of his or her budget.

Congressional staffer salary can vary widely. There are caps too. In 2009, the maximum salary for a staffer for a member's personal office was $168,411. Committee staffers, in certain instances, are eligible for a slightly higher salary.

While that sounds good, only a few aides are paid at the cap. Many junior-level staffers make an embarrassingly paltry sum, for office jobs that can have a brutal intensity to them. This includes working for the sometimes wild and crazy personalities of the elected. And... all this in the expensive city of Washington, D.C.  

Unlike their federal counterparts who are free to go home at the end of the day, when Congress is in session, Congressional staffers often work well into the night, sometimes into the early morning, to craft legislation or to broker deals with the administration. Not the typical day of a fed, but due to their prestige, competition for congressional jobs is fierce.

On the bright side, there is a potential pay-off. Many experienced congressional staffers leave the public sector to find jobs in the private sector making many times what they make in Congress.

Of course, their value in the private sector is sometimes enhanced not by their skills but by the personal connections they make while working for Congress.

Yours in Gov,

Bureaupat

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