The Administration of Congress

Abstract

ITrrLE thought has been given by Congress itself, students of administration, or the general public to the development of efficiency or responsibility in the management of the daily routine business that makes our national legislative body function. Its personnel and management practices, developed gradually over the years, are now sanctioned by hoary usage. A relatively small number of members of the two houses have had enough management experience to recognize the weaknesses in administrative organization on the Hill. Few members can spare the time from legislative debates, answering correspondence, the pressure of committee work, speech-making around the country, campaigning for re-election, and other assorted legislative and political tasks to devote any attention to the improvement of the management of Congress. The housekeeping functions of Congresshandling of payroll and accounts, recruitment and selection of personnel for administrative duties, library and informational services, bill drafting, reporting of debates, printing, handling mail, police and guard protection, and building maintenance-are not managed with any unity of direction. Instead, they are scattered among many offices that are independent of one another. By the very nature of the bicameral system, there is a dichotomy in the execution of most of these functions. Two parallel offices, one at each end of the Capitol, perform most of these duties with little or no relation to each other. Thus, diffusion of responsibility and separation of the houses make easy the survival of archaic and sometimes cumbersome modes of handling the housekeeping duties. Organization for Administration of Housekeeping Functions N CONSIDERING the management of the routine functions of Congress the student of administration is compelled to examine the offices of each branch of Congress independently. A somewhat greater simplicity characterizes the Senate than the House side.