Congressional casework is nearing a “boiling point” after years of growing pressure and a chronic lack of investment, according to a new report released Monday by POPVOX Foundation, a nonprofit led by former Hill staffers. 

The report, which draws on four years of research, finds that caseworkers are more valuable than ever as they race to help people left behind by the executive branch — but they aren’t getting the resources or recognition they deserve. 

“We’re in this moment where casework is truly increasing. The frog is boiling, and caseworkers themselves and offices are starting to kind of sit up and go, ‘Oh, this is not sustainable,’” said Anne Meeker, a senior adviser at POPVOX and herself a former caseworker. 

When people can’t get through to a federal agency about their Social Security checks or other crucial benefits, they try their members of Congress. On the other end of the line? A congressional caseworker ready to do whatever they can.

As they help constituents navigate a federal system that is unstable or slow to respond, these staffers are “quietly absorbing costs that properly belong to the executive branch,” the report argues.

The mass firings in federal agencies under the Trump administration didn’t help, but the problem predates that, according to Meeker. It leaves congressional caseworkers trying to fill the gaps — and often makes them the first to spot national emergencies. 

The report points to caseworkers who documented patterns of misconduct at veterans’ health facilities in Phoenix in 2014, for example, where patients died waiting for appointments, as well the 2022 infant formula crisis, which later was the subject of congressional hearings. 

Tracking data about casework is hard, the report acknowledges. But in 2024, POPVOX did an informal survey in which House offices reported averages of 10 to 51 new cases opened per week, along with 6 to 50 cases closed in the same period. In the Senate, those averages ran from 40 to 325 new cases opened and 20 to 220 closed. 

Keeping up with those loads, which may even be undercounts, is a big task, Meeker said.  

“Congressional staff, in effect, operate as uncompensated surge capacity for federal agency customer service. This is work that does not show up on any agency’s books, but does show up as opportunity cost for the legislative branch,” the report states.  

It’s not all doom and gloom — the report highlights steps some agencies have taken to make everyone’s jobs easier, including a passport processing overhaul from the State Department and an improved case portal from the Taxpayer Advocate Service.

But Meeker called it “telling” that caseworkers describe getting calls for help not just from constituents, but from agency workers who admit they can’t get things done on their own. Congress should assert its Article One powers and codify minimum standards for agency responsiveness, the report recommends, building on the findings of an in-progress study from the Government Accountability Office. 

Lawmakers should also invest in internal training and tools to support caseworkers, according to the report. It recommends completing CaseCompass, which will allow House offices to spot trends by pooling and tracking anonymized data, and making it available in the Senate as well. 

The simplest suggestion might also be the hardest — a culture shift. 

Caseworkers should be treated not as low-level customer service reps on the bottom rung of Congress’ career ladder, but as experts in their own right, the report argues. After all, caseworkers are the ones who work most closely with constituents, helping them secure millions of dollars in government benefits and seeing up close how their lives are shaped by the laws that Congress makes. 

Meeker said POPVOX is winding down the Casework Navigator program she has led for three years but will fiscally sponsor a new standalone group devoted to the topic that is launching this week, called the Constituent Service Institute.  

“This is really one of the places where Congress works,” Meeker said of casework, arguing it can fuel policymaking and trust in government while helping flag crises before they explode. “Casework can be that canary in the coal mine.”