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56 Pol. Sci. Q. 1 (1941)

handle is hein.journals/pclscceqry56 and id is 1 raw text is: Volume L VI] M POLITICAL SCIENCE QUARTERLY THE STAFFING OF CONGRESS* IN a message to Congress on January 12, 1937, President Roosevelt submitted the Report of his Committee on Administrative Management and asked that the execu- tive branch of the government be given modern tools and an up-to-date organization which would enable it to go forward efficiently. The Report laid stress on the increas- ingly technical character of the work done by the administra- tive departments, and insisted that, save in the case of a few top political officials, the staffing be expert and the tenure removed from interruption by reason of party or personal considerations. That the legislative branch of the government should have modern tools and an up-to-date organization so that it may go forward efficiently is equally essential. Over the years the work Of Congress has become increasingly technical and burdensome. The annual statute book grows in size. Ses- sions are longer. More and more numerous become the ad- ministrative agencies which seek funds and require scrutiny. Naturally, therefore, the staff of Congress has grown larger. To its cost, numbers, duties and potentialities little attention has as yet been paid-even by Congress. Relatively speaking Congress is an inexpensive body. For the services of 435 representatives, 96 senators, their buildings * Dr. Floyd M. Riddick of Washington, D. C., who for several years has viewed The Hill and its inhabitants at close range, prepared many of the data on which this article is based. Professor Charles A. Beard gave the manuscript a critical reading with results that can be fully appreciated only by those who have profited by having their manuscripts read by Charles A. Beard. Marck Ipy r [ Number i