This is the third in a series of blog posts summarizing our "Coronavirus, Congress, and Constituent Communications" report, which will be posted weekly culminating in the release of our second Member-Constituent Engagement report, "The Future of Citizen Engagement: Pre-COVID Challenges to Constituent Communication." Check back here weekly for new posts outlining how the global pandemic has changed congressional communications.
Since the onset of COVID-19, Americans have been reaching out to their elected representatives like never before, and Congress has stepped up to the task. Senior staffers in the House and Senate indicate their offices have been receiving more constituent communications, and they're having more substantive interactions with constituents than they did prior to the pandemic. Most offices have also increased the resources they dedicate to engaging with those they represent.
"I think the increased use of video conferencing has opened a door to many new opportunities to engage with constituents and groups that most offices had not really considered previously." —House Deputy Chief of Staff
A significant amount of the increase is due to requests for assistance related to different aspects of the COVID-19 crisis, including help with stimulus checks, small business loans, problems with government benefits, and unemployment. These are substantive and often emotional interactions with constituents that sometimes require significant time to resolve.
"I was surprised at how little has changed and at the ability of staff to continue to do their jobs well while working remotely." – Senate Chief of Staff
Congressional offices also have had to invest more financial and personnel into managing it all, and some Senators and Representatives–including some who had previously refused to use even email–have found themselves going live on their social media accounts, posting and participating in video interviews, conducting telephone and online town hall meetings, participating in remote committee proceedings, and forwarding landline phones to staffers' mobile phones to continue their work and serve their constituents, even when they cannot meet face-to-face.
As America continues to deal with COVID-19, Americans have turned to their Senators and Representatives for leadership and assistance. Congress has been forced to make unexpected changes in a short amount of time in order to serve their needs. In May and June of 2020, CMF surveyed senior congressional staffers to find out how Congress and their offices are adjusting to the abrupt changes, and how it has affected the relationship with their constituents. We discussed the seven key findings in the report The Future of Citizen Engagement: Coronavirus, Congress, and Constituent Communications.
Stay tuned this winter for the next report in this series: The Future of Citizen Engagement: Pre-COVID Challenges to Constituent Communications.
William Mioduszewski is a recent graduate at William Paterson University and majored in Political Science. He interned remotely with the Congressional Management Foundation from September-December 2020.
