The Congressional Management Foundation (CMF) recognizes that Congress, as an institution and as individual offices, has never faced the operational challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic. CMF does not remotely suggest we have all the answers. Yet we have provided guidance to Congress in the past during other crises which have impacted both the operations of Congress and congressional staff – such as 9/11 and the Gabby Giffords shooting. This information will focus on the managerial aspects of navigating this crisis.

This guidance should not supplant the official guidance from congressional leadership, and we urge congressional offices to follow the guidance of leadership and institutional offices to address the public health and security components related to the crisis.

CMF hopes this information will help guide you in some best practices and help you address the right questions to consider in responding to this public health crisis.

Key Questions To Consider -- Every Office Operates Differently So Each Office May Have Different Answers

Below is a list of questions which offices may wish to consider as they manage the impact of this pandemic on their offices and staffs.

1. Have you established a telework policy for the office? House Administration and Senate Rules and Administration have official policies and resources on their websites. Additionally, CMF's Workflex Toolkit for Congress offers additional management guidance and worksheets to help you set up telework practices.
2. Do you have equipment that is adaptable to working remotely? (Laptops, secure ID cards, scanners/printers, cell phones for all staff, etc.)
3. Has your equipment been tested for working remotely (can you access your work email, common drive documents, files, etc.). As you may know, relevant House and Senate offices are offering to provide assistance.
4. Are there critical operational files that are not digitized that either need to be digitized or need to be physically taken with you in the case of a telework need?
5. How you will handle constituents who already have plans to travel to DC and plan on visiting your office?
6. Do you know how to forward and/or modify the voicemail of the main DC or district/state office phone line?
7. Do you have an emergency staff contact list with backup emails and phone numbers for the Member and staff? Are you going to establish a private social media page (Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.) for the office for Member and staff use only?
8. Have you communicated ahead of time with your constituents that if any contingencies are made with the operations of your office, where they should go to receive additional information? (e.g., website, subscriber email list, etc.)
9. How will incoming paper or digitized mail be processed during a contingency operation? Will it be suspended? Will you have a standard response? For those constituents who do not provide an email address how will you contact them?
10. How will you handle any concerns raised by staff who might be worried about coming into the office or taking public transit?
11. Do you already have experience in conducting telephone town hall meetings and if not, what do you need to do to prepare yourself for this process? Do you prefer to use a web enabled live-streaming service?
12. Will you post a Frequently Asked Questions section on your website for incoming constituent questions?
13. Do you have a regular time each day, each week, or every other week established as a regular information disbursing platform so your constituents know when to expect regular updates either via phone, email, or other means? Do you have the same regular update plan for your own staff to keep them updated on new information?
14. Have all of your staff registered with the emergency alert systems provided by the House/Senate?
15. Have you decided whether you are going to keep one or more of your district/state offices physically open if you must close your DC office for any time period?
16. Are you familiar with the variety of video/teleconferencing applications available to your office and which ones are compatible and have been approved for use in your chamber?

6 Most Common Mistakes Organizations Make in Managing Crises

CMF has this helpful online newsletter that might assist you during this time.

Please Talk to Us

We would like to hear from you, either for problems you are having or best practices you believe would be worthwhile to share with the greater House and Senate community. As such, if you would like to contact us for either or both issue areas, please email any comments or questions to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .