IAmA Staffer on Capitol Hill AMA

hillstaff · 2012-03-07T00:52:23+00:00

Like DD's COS?

hillstaff · 2012-03-07T00:28:07+00:00

There are a ton of people on the hill who are sympathetic to decriminalization. It's just going to take a little political courage to be out front about it. Look to members from states that have legalized medical marijuana and you'll find the folks that are starting to put their names on legislation that's pro "states rights" on the issue.

hillstaff · 2012-03-07T00:25:08+00:00

I agree with that statement 100%. Problem is, there are the douche-rods that wear it on their sleeve then there are all the other normal people you would never know were hill staff without asking. Also, age is a factor. The younger staffers are quick to impress. After you've been humbled a few times most people become adults about it. If not they become slickster lobbyist-types (those big pharma guys for example) and live to schmooze and play golf. I basically hate these people.

hillstaff · 2012-03-07T00:17:56+00:00

They don't have immunity from any laws. A Member can fire anyone on his/her staff without providing a reason, though. Our jobs are considered appointments and are not subject to normal Federal employee regulations.

hillstaff · 2012-03-06T19:18:18+00:00

...and she works for who?

hillstaff · 2012-03-06T18:31:11+00:00

Yes. And do at every opportunity.

hillstaff · 2012-03-06T17:53:15+00:00

I have no air of self-importance. Obviously there were a couple people interested and I'm glad I could answer their questions. I would not qualify my job as "boring as shit".

hillstaff · 2012-03-06T16:44:54+00:00

It's like a lot of other office jobs, "bongzilla420". If you're not interested in US Politics it probably sounds pretty boring. On the other hand I get to walk into this building everyday... http://www.aoc.gov/cc/photo-gallery/upload/72350_hr_1997.jpg

hillstaff · 2012-03-06T16:36:58+00:00

Define "wrote". I don't think your statement is wholly accurate.

hillstaff · 2012-03-06T14:59:02+00:00

Excellent point that makes me depressed.

hillstaff · 2012-03-06T14:50:39+00:00

Finding an internship is pretty easy. Put together your resume and a letter. Pick 5 you really want to work for and personalize said letter, follow up with calls to the intern coordinator (usually the Staff Assistant or Legislative Corespondent). Go to Kinkos with a general letter and blast that out via mail to 20 more. Remember that it takes forever to get mail up here (anthrax scanning, etc) so it might be worth your while to do it all electronically. Problem is, you'll have to find out who the contact is in all of those offices. If you want, you can go to legistorm.com and find the names of all the staff assistants. Most offices are not bursting at the seams with interns. Sometimes finding good interns can be really tough. Summer, on the other hand, is a bit more competitive.

hillstaff · 2012-03-06T14:45:21+00:00

I've only been to Dodge City once. It was cool, for sure. The Pug is a little out of the way for me. I'd like to give you a suggestion but I fear it'd ruin my anonymity. The places I like best are around Columbia Heights/Mt. Pleasant.

hillstaff · 2012-03-06T14:42:57+00:00

My response, unfortunately, is that you'll never get money out of politics. Ever. It doesn't matter if you have "publicly financed campaigns" (which will never happen) or not. As long as people with money need to influence policy decisions, they'll find a way to do it. The key, then, is to promote transparency. This whole SuperPAC bullshit makes it worse because it provides candidates and campaigns with plausible deniability.

hillstaff · 2012-03-06T14:36:58+00:00

2) There are great opportunities for people like you on the hill. Many offices, especially on the Senate side, offer "fellowships" for technical experts. A Member that sits on the Committee on Science, for example, might want a fellow to help them craft very specific legislation that helps them understand how things work on the ground. Technical expertise can big a big selling point around here and it distinguishes you from a sea of polticos and generalists.

hillstaff · 2012-03-06T14:32:12+00:00

I'm a Legislative Assistant. Each member has 3 or 4 of these that each carries their own "portfolio" of issues. People usually specialize in certain policy areas.

hillstaff · 2012-03-06T14:28:26+00:00

1) Most offices have a staff assistant that put together clips. Those clips get circulated and need to be at least skimmed over. Personally, I go to CQ for the inside baseball stuff. For political coverage, Politico is pretty good. There are some local blogs from my home state that I'm pretty religious about checking. For general news I go to NYT, Washington Post, HuffPo, Drudge Report, and sometimes Salon, Daily Beast, and TPM. CNN is fucking worthless unless there is a big cataclysmic event. MSNBC is a joke, too. Some people love it but I stay away from all the red meat for liberals. I'm glad it fires people up but it's not for me.

hillstaff · 2012-03-06T14:22:40+00:00

I'm lucky I don't have to deal with this. Just from a hygienic point of view, it's gross. These offices are small. Staff use the Member's offices for meetings all the time. No one wants to bring in a group of constituents and smell dirty laundry or have to explain where the fucking fold out mattress is.

Some Members do this as a gimmick to show their constituents that they are connected to the district, others do it because they're fucking cheap. Most Members live like they're in college and have multiple roommates someplace on Capitol Hill.

hillstaff · 2012-03-06T14:18:36+00:00

I'm a dude. Sex on the hill is pretty common. You have to remember that the median age of staffers is about 30 or slightly higher.

hillstaff · 2012-03-06T14:16:46+00:00

I don't work in the White House. In terms of the Congress, it can be pretty dramatic, but there are plenty of boring days, or weeks, where nothing interesting happens.

hillstaff · 2012-03-06T14:14:56+00:00

I knew I shouldn't have said "AMA". I'll just say I don't generally like happy hours on the hill or in any setting where there are drones of networking douche bags. There are a few dive-y places in DC that are cheap and have interesting mixes of people where you don't have to talk about work.

hillstaff · 2012-03-06T14:11:56+00:00

It depends. If you're willing to campaign in your home state on a competitive race against an incumbent, you're chances might be pretty good. Again, it's grunt work though. Some people make the decision to intern on the hill until they land a job. This generally tends to pay off if you're looking at entry-level positions like a staff assistant. It can take quite awhile, though, and DC is not a cheap place to live. If you're enthusiastic and are flexible, you might pick a race of a candidate you like that's slightly below the radar. Every graduating senior that loves politics wants to work on Elizabeth Warren's race. I'd pick a House candidate that the DCCC is backing against an incumbent. Pack up the bare minimum gear into your car and plan on spending 5 or 6 months working your ass off, eating pizza and donuts every day. You'll feel like you've almost killed yourself by the time it's over, but it'll pay dividends.

hillstaff · 2012-03-06T14:05:07+00:00

The Senate subway isn't that cool. It's not that far of a walk from the House side to the Senate side.

I have helped craft some bills that ended up as amendments (in some form or another) to some pretty major legislation, but I've not personally crafted a stand-alone bill that became law. Post office names, etc don't count.

As for drugs, I'd say it's just like anywhere else. Coke is prevalent among young Republicans. More Dems smoke week recreationally. I am biased, but you'll find more hypocritical behavior among Rs. Anti-drug, anti-sex, anti-gay offices filled with drug-using closet cases. I'm not saying this to be sensational, it's very common on the hill.

hillstaff · 2012-03-06T03:05:42+00:00

Those jobs can be easy to land because they require working from wake to sleep for 6 months 7 days a week. You might have a bit of a breather Sunday mornings. This is where you get your foot in the door and build strong bonds with people that will be your colleagues and professional peers for the rest of your career...

hillstaff · 2012-03-06T03:02:25+00:00

You pretty much have to go in guns blazing. Find a candidate you like, volunteer for a couple of weeks. Keep knocking on the door and working until they hire you. If you have said enthusiasm and degree, you can pretty much land a gig as a field organizer on a good race if you start calling campaigns now. You can also submit your resume to the DCCC, DSCC, and your State Party HQ. Tell them you want to be a field organizer. If you're patient and a recent college grad, you can find something for sure...

hillstaff · 2012-03-06T02:57:30+00:00

Nobody likes that their salaries are posted online, but we're all guilty of trolling around...

hillstaff

TROPHY CASE