Dashboard: A Look at the Stats Behind the Staffers
Year that Congress passed the Legislative Reorganization Act, which led to widespread hiring of administrative assistants a predecessor title to chief of staff in lawmakers offices: 1946
Tenure of Francis Wilcox, the first chief of staff on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee: 1947-55
Year that the group presently known as the bipartisan House Chiefs of Staff Association was founded: 1973
Decade that the title chief of staff came into wide use on Capitol Hill and began to replace administrative assistant as the title for the top staffer in a lawmakers office: 1980s
Year that the chief of staff title for lawmakers offices first appeared in Congressional staff directories: 1981
Number of Senators in 1981 who used the chief of staff title in their personal offices: 4 (GOP Sens. David Durenberger of Minnesota, Charles Percy of Illinois, Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania and Ted Stevens of Alaska)
Number of Senators who used the chief of staff title in 1990: 25
Number of Senators who used the chief of staff title in 2000: 87
Number of Senators on Election Day 2008 who still used the title administrative assistant for the top staff position: 2
Number of House Members who used the chief of staff title in 1981: 1 (Rep. Mervyn Dymally, a Democrat from California)
Number of House Members who used the chief of staff title in 1990: 49
Number of House Members who used the chief of staff title in 2000: 330
Number of House Members on Election Day 2008 who still used the title administrative assistant for the top staff position: 3
Number of incoming House Members whose spouse served as chief of staff to the districts outgoing incumbent: 1 (Rep.-elect Steve Austria, a Republican from Ohio)
Number of incoming lawmakers who previously served as a chief of staff to a federal lawmaker: 2 (Rep. Marcia Fudge, a Democrat from Ohio, and Rep.-elect Pete Olson, a Republican from Texas)
Sources: Knowlegis, Congressional staff directories, Senate Historical Office, Congressional Management Foundation and House Chiefs of Staff Association
Compiled by Mark Wegner and Pamela King/GalleryWatch
