Republican senior congressional aides are considering fleeing Capitol Hill in droves over frustrations with heated rhetoric and representatives who put emphasis on “bombast” over policy, according to a new report and analysis.
The nonprofit Congressional Management Foundation recently published a new report on the poor job satisfaction of senior aides who don’t believe Congress is “functioning as a democratic legislature should.”
“Congress is broken,” the grim introduction reads.
According to the report, “significantly more Republicans (59%) than Democrats (16%) are considering leaving Congress due to ‘heated rhetoric from my party.”'
The report is also the subject of a Washington Post analysis published Saturday morning that focuses on the impact of a new culture on Capitol Hill.
“What’s driving this new bout of staff departures is the overall environment,” writes Paul Kane. “That includes pandemic fallout...It also accounts for the ongoing toxicity since the January 2021 attack on the Capitol.”
Kane notes senior aides are not the only ones casting their gaze away from Capitol Hill, noting that Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) will next month become the seventh member to resign the House midterm for life in the private sector.
“Lawmakers themselves are incredibly fed up with the institution,” he writes, dubbing the departures "historically unusual.”
One anonymous Republican chief of staff offered a personal explanation to the nonprofit, detailing their frustrations with the lack of leadership.
“Perhaps courses on the constitutional role of Congress would help enlighten them on how representation is intended to work," the anonymous aide reportedly said, "and we could govern properly."
Kane, the Post’s Congressional bureau chief, also casts a stern eye on new members of Congress who arrive “without much concern about policy and instead focus on their communications staff and getting attention on social media and cable news,” he writes.
“[Staffers'] collective ire also goes toward the representatives and senators themselves, who have amped up their bombast so much that it makes it harder for aides to secure the goodwill needed to do their jobs effectively,” Kane notes. “Almost half of senior aides strongly agreed that the tone taken by lawmakers ‘inhibits the ability of staffers to collaborate across party lines.’”
