Caseworkers in Congress

Casework in a congressional office refers to the response or services that Members of Congress provide to constituents who request assistance. Caseworkers across the country in both the private and public sectors are essentially the point of contact between clients seeking assistance and the agencies and professionals trained to provide it.

• Typically, congressional caseworkers help individual constituents deal with federal administrative agencies by acting as facilitators, ombudsmen, and, in some cases, advocates.
• The number and type of constituent requests, how an office defines casework, Member priorities, and the distribution of responsibilities among office locations and staff are some of the factors that can affect a congressional office’s casework policies and procedures.
• Most casework is conducted by staff in state or district offices, and staff are commonly hired in these locations to work on casework or other constituent services.
• The decision to hire a caseworker, the specific qualifications for that role, and job responsibilities, however, are left to each Member office to determine. In some offices, certain caseworkers work with particular agencies or on certain types of cases; in other offices, all caseworkers work on all types of cases.
• Some congressional offices also consider their liaison activities between the federal government and local governments or businesses concerned with the effects of federal legislation or regulation to be casework.

Congressional Casework Functions

Casework is not required of Members of Congress, but it is commonly expected by constituents. It appears that each Member office today provides some type of casework, reflecting a broadly held understanding among Members and their staff that casework is integral to the representational duties of a Member of Congress. As a result, Members of Congress have found it necessary to assign staff members (sometimes whole support teams) to the busy casework function.

Congressional caseworkers are busy:

• Tracking misdirected benefits payments.
• Helping to fill out government forms.
• Applying for Social Security, veterans’, education, and other federal benefits.
• Explaining government activities or decisions.
• Applying to a military service academy.
• Seeking relief from a federal administrative decision.
• Immigrating to the United States or applying for U.S. citizenship.

As you might imagine, the list is endless.

Limitations on Congressional Casework

Contrary to the widely held public perception that Members of Congress can initiate a broad array of actions resulting in a speedy, favorable outcome, there are significant limitations on the degree of permissible intervention from a member office.

• Federal statute prohibits Members of Congress, chamber officers, and congressional staff from representing anyone before the federal government, except in the performance of their official duties.
• House and Senate rules and federal law also prohibit ex parte communications with agency employees reasonably expected to be involved in case adjudication.
• Under the Privacy Act of 1974, executive branch agencies cannot share records containing an individual’s personally identifiable information with any outside entity unless that individual has authorized the release of that information.
• Agencies may request a particular format or types of information on a Privacy Act release. Requests involving medical information might require an additional authorization, pursuant to rules promulgated under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA).

What a Congressional Caseworker May Do

Generally, a Member of Congress may do the following on behalf of eligible individuals seeking their assistance, under House and Senate guidelines:

1. Request information or a status report.
2. Urge prompt consideration.
3. Arrange for interviews or appointments.
4. Express judgments.
5. Call for reconsideration of an administrative response that the Member believes is not reasonably supported by statutes, regulations, or considerations of equity or public policy.
6. Perform any other service of a similar nature consistent with the provisions of the rules of the House or Senate.

Busy None-The-Less

Constituents view a member’s office as the best point of contact for assistance with the federal government. Many Members believe that casework activities are an important part of an outreach strategy to build political support among constituents.

Congressional caseworkers are, therefore, kept quite busy.