State of the Congress 2024 reveals that senior congressional staff agree with what many Americans already believe: Congress is not doing well. A large majority of our survey respondents said Congress is not "functioning as a democratic legislature should," and identified deficiencies in the institution, especially with regards to civility and bipartisan collaboration. However, many metrics related to the capacity of the institution to function had improved.

"What we found offers both hope and reason for concern. Based on results comparing the 2023 survey to the 2022 survey Congress may have improved in some important areas of legislative functionality including: access to high-quality, nonpartisan policy expertise within the Legislative Branch; the technological infrastructure; congressional capacity and support; human resource support; Members' and staffers' understanding of Congress' role in democracy; and accessibility and accountability to the public. But there is still a lot of room for continued improvement."

The improved attitudes in these areas are likely due to the work of the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress (2019–2023) and the Committee on House Administration's Subcommittee on Modernization (created in 2023).

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Funded by grants from Business For America, Hewlett Foundation U.S. Democracy Program, Salesforce, and SHRM, the Society for Human Resource Management.

Key Findings

1. Senior staffers generally believe Congress is not functioning as it should. Only 12% of Democrats and 31% of Republicans agreed that "Congress is currently functioning as a democratic legislature should." There has been no change or improvement of this metric since 2022. When asked if they thought "Congress is currently an effective forum for debate on questions of public concern," Democrats (87%) were more likely than Republicans (71%) to disagree with that statement. Democrats (55%) were also much more likely than Republicans (19%) to believe "current procedures used by Congress to extract necessary information from the Executive Branch are sufficient to fulfill Congress' constitutional responsibilities."
2. Senior staffers believe there have been improvements to the capacity and infrastructure in Congress, but feel Congress still needs improvement. In 2022 we measured eight internal factors related to the capacity of the institution to perform its role in democracy. Uniformly, staff feel there have been improvements in nearly all categories from 2022 to 2023. The biggest improvements in percentages of staffers who were "very satisfied" were that: Members and staff have access to high-quality, nonpartisan policy expertise within the Legislative Branch (+20%); Congress' human resource support and infrastructure is adequate to support staffers' official duties (+8%); and the technological infrastructure is adequate to support Members' official duties (+6%). CMF concludes this is likely due to the recommendations and work of the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress and the Modernization Subcommittee of the Committee on House Administration. Additionally, the institutional offices in the House and Senate have brought attention and context to persistent operational and procedural challenges in the Congress and offered pragmatic solutions with bipartisan support.
3. Senior staffers are grappling with anxiety about their safety and that of their colleagues and Members. Staffers of both parties (72% Republican and 78% Democrat) consider it "very important" that "Members and staff feel safe doing their jobs." Alarmingly, only 21% of Democratic staff said they were satisfied with the current environment compared to 61% of Republican staff. Additionally, 68% of Democratic staffers and 73% of Republican staffers report they somewhat frequently, frequently, or very frequently personally receive "direct insulting or threatening messages or communications."¹ Many experience anxiety for their safety and that of their colleagues (63%) and Members (74%), though significantly more Democrats (73%) than Republicans (47%) worry about their safety and that of their colleagues. Based on the tenor of comments we received, bolstered by our regular interactions with staffers of both parties in recent years, the aftermath of January 6, 2021 is still impacting the daily work lives and relationships of many Democrats.
4. Senior staffers think it is very important for Members and staffers to be civil and to work across party lines. Civility and bipartisanship were important to almost all senior staffers we surveyed, but few said they were "very satisfied" with the current state (1% civility and 0% bipartisanship). Republicans (85%) were even more likely than Democrats (70%) to consider civility to be "very important." Staffers of both parties (96% of Democrats and 98% of Republicans) also consider it "necessary for Senators and Representatives to collaborate across party lines to best meet the needs of the nation," and a majority (60% of Republicans and 51% of Democrats) believe encouraging bipartisanship is "very important" for Congress to function.
5. Senior staffers believe polarization and rhetoric are making it more difficult to get things done in Congress and are causing them to consider leaving Congress. Senior staffers were almost unanimous, and about two-thirds of both Republicans (66%) and Democrats (68%) "strongly agree" that "congressional leadership should enforce the rules and norms of civility and decorum in Congress," but they differ on the finer points. More than half of Republicans (56%) felt "the agreed-upon rules and codes of conduct for Senators and Representatives are sufficient to hold them accountable for their words and deeds," but 84% of Democrats disagreed. And Democrats (80%) were far more likely than Republicans (43%) to "strongly agree" that, "in the past few years, otherwise non-controversial legislative ideas have failed due to polarization among Senators and Representatives." (Nonetheless, 88% of Republicans agreed with that statement.) A significant number of staffers of both parties (44% of Republicans and 51% of Democrats) are "considering leaving Congress due to heated rhetoric from the other party," but significantly more Republicans (59%) than Democrats (16%) are considering leaving Congress due to "heated rhetoric from my party."
6. Staff are essential to the effective functioning of Congress, but many senior staffers are showing signs that may lead to burnout. Most staff surveyed (84%) consider it "very important" to the effective functioning of Congress that "staff knowledge, skills, and abilities are adequate to support Members' official duties," and 54% are satisfied with the current state. More than three-quarters report feeling overwhelmed by the demands of their jobs (81%) and frustration at not being able to help or achieve as much as they'd like (84%), factors which may lead to burnout. Senate staffers (42%) and longer-tenured staffers (36%) were more likely to be "very frequently" experiencing frustration at not being able to help as much as they'd like, and younger staffers (36%) were more likely to "very frequently" experience being overwhelmed by the demands of their jobs.
7. Senior staffers have mixed feelings about congressional accountability and accessibility to the public, but they agree these are important aspects of congressional functionality. Staffers were generally much more satisfied with the public-facing aspects of congressional functionality we explored than they were with the more internal institutional factors discussed in Finding 2. Most were satisfied with Congress' physical (96%) and technological (85%) accessibility to the public. Though similar percentages of Republicans (71%) and Democrats (70%) consider it "very important" that "constituents have sufficient means to hold their Senators/Representative accountable for their performance," Republicans (50%) are much more likely to be "very satisfied" with the current state than Democrats (18%). Republicans (67%) were also more likely to agree with the statement that "the current means of public engagement/input – advocacy and lobbying directed to individual Senators and Representatives –are adequate for understanding the needs of U.S. residents" than Democrats (36%). Only 15% of staffers were "very satisfied" that "Congress is transparent to the public in the conduct of its business."

¹ In a July 26, 2023 Oversight of the Capitol Police Board joint hearing before the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration and the House Administration Committee J. Thomas Manger, Chief of the U.S. Capitol Police, indicated that threats to Members of Congress had increased 300% and that "threats not just to Members, but to staff, to families, visitors remain historically high."

Learn more by downloading the entire State of the Congress 2024 report(4.29 MB)