Herline Mathieu News Today

More than 25 years after Congress voted to give its employees the right to unionize, Democrats are making a fresh push to make it possible for House aides to bargain collectively, an uphill effort that has exposed the often difficult realities of working on Capitol Hill.

Democrats have signed on to a resolution that would for the first time give House aides the same organizing protections other federal government employees enjoy.

Low pay, a high cost of living and an insulated culture make it hard for Black aides to build a career in Congress.

"The biggest shortcomings in Hill pay right now are on the lower levels, not with chiefs [of staff]," one senior Democratic aide told Insider.

Capitol siege costs will exceed $30 million, official tells congress By Emily Cochrane and Luke Broadwater New York Times,Updated February 24, 2021, 11:08 p.m. Email to a Friend Former US Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund as Robert J. Contee III, acting D.C. Metropolitan Police chief, appeared on a video monitor while testifying from a remote location before a joint hearing of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and Senate Rules and Administration committees on Capitol Hill.ERI...

This Congress is the most diverse ever. But Hill staffers remain overwhelmingly white. POLITICO 2/23/2021 By Maya King © Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images Congressional staffers eat by the reflecting pool during the 36th annual Capitol Hill ice cream party June 6, 2018 in Washington, D.C. Last month, when Michael J. Brewer became one of 10 communications directors of color out of roughly 100 in the U.S. Senate, he took it as a small sign of progress. Brewer, who runs communic...

Congress staffers struggle after insurrection By Katherine Tully-McManus CQ-Roll Call/TNS WASHINGTON - They replay the day in their minds, hear threats when they pick up the phone, and try to keep doing their jobs. Congressional staffers are still struggling in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, whether they hid from the violent mob in their workplace or watched in terror from home. Speaker Nancy Pelosi addressed the ongoing toll last week, when she told reporters that she atte...