"working congress" is brad's column for "roll Call"

If a new legislative director started her new job 10 years ago and wanted some training in her new position, she was pretty much out of luck. The only training the House of Representatives offered back then was some basic software modules or possibly some topic-specific briefings presented by outside nonprofits. Starting in 2021, things have changed. Now new staff have a range of offerings, from online courses to multiday, position-specific conferences to individual executive coaching. It came about due to a directive of the House Administration Committee and a push led by the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer.  How the House quietly built a training revolution for its staff - Roll Call 

A few years ago I was at Eastern Market in Washington, waiting in line at Bowers Fancy Dairy Products to pick some good Vermont cheddar. Coming in behind me was a member of Congress I knew, (now former) Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn. I asked him what brought him to Eastern Market. He said, “Shhh … I’m buying cheese for a bipartisan whiskey tasting at my apartment tonight.” Despite the barrage of hyperpartisan rhetoric flung on an hourly basis by members of Congress of both parties, there are still bipartisan gatherings that serve as havens. Even during the government shutdown, plans are underway to continue with bipartisan staff and member events.  Whiskey, cheese and common ground in Congress - Roll Call 

A generation ago, in 2004, I wrote a book that was novel at the time, Media Relations Handbook for Agencies, Associations, Nonprofits and Congress. While some texts offered guidance to PR professionals in the private sector, this was the first to speak directly to the public sector. Yet in the last few decades, the field of public communications has been transformed, and the rules that applied in the 20th century are just not functional in the 21st. In talking to communications professionals on Capitol Hill, you can see how digital strategies have not just augmented but in some cases supplanted the old tactics of seeking to influence reporters, to the point that the term “media relations” means something else.  I wrote the book on media relations for Congress. How does it hold up? 

Anecdotes abound about how trips taken by congressional delegations (called CODELs) have led to social relationships, and then to bipartisan legislative collaborations. Two House members once hashed out some AmeriCorps funding questions on a return flight from Europe. The primary drivers of the major $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that became law in 2021 were Rob Portman and Kyrsten Sinema, senators on opposite sides of the aisle. The pair first bonded on a civil rights trip to Selma, Ala., to walk together over the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Now, two academic researchers have developed quantitative metrics that show how these trips lead to bipartisan bills.  Trust on the tarmac: Lawmakers who travel together legislate together 

Legislative relationships and friendships across the aisle in Congress are less rare than most people think. Just take it from Michelle Dorothy and A. Brooke Bennett. On paper, these chiefs of staff don’t have all that much in common. One is a Democrat, while the other is a Republican. They came to the Hill on different paths: Dorothy has an MBA and started out in tech, while Bennett worked in corporate finance and went to law school. But the two share a mission: They co-founded a bipartisan listserv to give chiefs a space to ask questions and talk about the challenges of running a congressional office.  What makes a good chief of staff? Be a leader, not just in charge - Roll Call  

For many who traverse the halls of Capitol Hill as staffers, their tenure is only a few years. But recently the Senate said goodbye to a 30-year veteran of the institution. “After three decades, I have enough stories to fill a book,” said Lynden Armstrong, who retired as deputy assistant sergeant-at-arms and chief information officer.  From ranch to Rotunda, Lynden Armstrong blazed trails in the Senate - Roll Call