In the United States Congress, a chief of staff (CoS) is the highest-ranking legislative staffer in the office of a member of Congress. Chiefs of staff are sometimes given other titles, such as administrative assistant.
Chiefs of staff are usually the chief operating officer of the office, reporting only to the Member (either a Representative or Senator).
Chiefs of staffs are supervisors and managers. Depending on the size of the office and the prominence of the member—committee chairs and party leaders usually have larger staffs—chiefs of staff may oversee dozens or hundreds of employees, including legislative assistants (LAs), press secretaries, caseworkers for constituent services, office managers, schedulers, secretaries, and interns.
Different chiefs of staffs are tasked with different roles, and some chiefs of staffs are charged with personnel decisions and policy initiatives. They may also be assigned to political undertakings, such as raising money for campaigns. From time to time a chief of staff may be based out of a district office, but they are almost always found at the Capitol ("on the Hill").
Chiefs of staffs are usually very experienced political staffers, often with years of prior work on the Hill, or are personal friends of Members. Some chiefs of staff were previously campaign managers. Salaries tend to be near or above $100,000.
External links
 |
This United States Congress-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
