Civics & Government · 12th Grade · The Legislative Branch and Public Policy · Weeks 1-9

The Role of Staff and Support Agencies

Investigate the crucial, often unseen, work of congressional staff and agencies like the GAO and CRS.

• Common Core State Standards
• C3: D2.Civ.5.9-12
• C3: D2.Civ.6.9-12

About This Topic

The visible work of Congress, floor speeches, committee hearings, and roll call votes, represents a fraction of what actually produces legislation. Behind every bill is a network of congressional staff and support agencies whose expertise and continuity often exceed that of the elected members they serve. Understanding this hidden infrastructure is essential for students who want to understand how legislation actually gets made rather than how it is described in textbooks.

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) provides nonpartisan analysis on any topic a member requests, while the Government Accountability Office (GAO) audits federal programs and investigates executive agency performance. These agencies represent an important democratic resource: they give Congress an independent analytical capacity that does not depend on the executive branch's own reporting.

Active learning helps students engage with this otherwise dry institutional topic by putting them in the position of staff. When students have to research a policy question and brief a mock 'senator,' they understand immediately why staff expertise is so consequential, and they can begin to evaluate the democratic accountability questions that come with that reality.

Key Questions

1. Explain the importance of congressional staff in the legislative process.
2. Analyze how support agencies provide essential information for informed decision-making.
3. Critique the potential for unelected staff to exert undue influence on policy.

Learning Objectives

• Explain the specific functions congressional staff perform in drafting legislation and conducting oversight.
• Analyze how the GAO and CRS provide nonpartisan, evidence-based research to inform congressional decision-making.
• Critique the balance between the expertise of unelected staff and the democratic accountability of elected officials in policy development.
• Compare the types of information provided by the GAO versus the CRS for legislative purposes.

Before You Start

Structure and Function of the US Congress

Why: Students need a foundational understanding of Congress's role in lawmaking to appreciate the support it requires.

Checks and Balances in US Government

Why: Understanding the separation of powers helps students grasp the importance of Congress's independent oversight capacity provided by these agencies.

Key Vocabulary

Congressional Staff	Non-elected individuals employed by members of Congress or congressional committees who provide research, policy analysis, and administrative support.
Government Accountability Office (GAO)	An independent, nonpartisan agency that works for Congress, auditing federal programs, evaluating government performance, and investigating waste and fraud.
Congressional Research Service (CRS)	A division of the Library of Congress that provides nonpartisan research and analysis to members of Congress and their staff on a wide range of policy issues.
Oversight	The process by which Congress monitors and supervises the executive branch and federal agencies to ensure laws are implemented correctly and efficiently.

Watch Out for These Misconceptions

Common Misconception

Members of Congress personally write and read all the legislation they vote on.

What to Teach Instead

Most legislation is drafted by staff or by lobbyists working with staff, and members rely heavily on staff summaries for complex bills. This is not inherently corrupt; the legislative volume would be impossible without specialization. The accountability question is whether this arrangement is transparent and well-supervised.

Common Misconception

The CRS and GAO are partisan agencies that produce reports favoring the majority party.

What to Teach Instead

Both agencies have strong institutional cultures of nonpartisanship and produce analysis that is available to members of both parties. CRS reports are requested by individual members and staff regardless of party. The GAO regularly produces findings critical of programs championed by the majority, which is part of what makes it credible.

Active Learning Ideas

Role Play: Congressional Staff Briefing

Students are divided into 'staff teams' of three, each assigned a current policy issue. Each team researches the issue and prepares a two-minute staff briefing for their assigned 'senator' (a rotating student role). The senator then asks two follow-up questions, and the team must answer from their research.

50 min·Small Groups

Document Analysis: Reading a GAO Report

Students receive a short excerpt from a real GAO report on a federal program and identify: the problem the audit found, the recommendation made, the agency's response, and whether the recommendation was implemented. Groups compare findings and discuss what follow-up accountability mechanisms exist.

35 min·Small Groups

Think-Pair-Share: Unelected Power

Students write individually about whether it is a problem that unelected staff have significant influence over policy. After pairing to discuss, the class maps the range of responses and connects them to broader questions about technocracy, expertise, and democratic accountability.

20 min·Pairs

Real-World Connections

• When a member of Congress needs to understand the economic impact of a proposed trade policy, their staff might request a detailed, nonpartisan report from the CRS, which then informs the member's vote and public statements.
• The GAO's investigations into the effectiveness of federal programs, such as its audits of FEMA's disaster relief spending, directly influence congressional decisions on agency funding and reforms, impacting how taxpayer money is used.

Assessment Ideas

Discussion Prompt

Pose this question to the class: 'Imagine you are a newly elected representative. How would you utilize the GAO and CRS to prepare for a committee hearing on healthcare reform? What are the potential benefits and drawbacks of relying on these agencies?'

Quick Check

Provide students with a brief scenario describing a policy challenge. Ask them to identify which agency, GAO or CRS, would be best suited to provide initial research and explain why, citing specific services each agency offers.

Exit Ticket

On an index card, have students write one specific task a congressional staffer might perform and one way the GAO or CRS contributes to the legislative process that elected officials cannot easily replicate.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between the CRS, GAO, and CBO?

The CRS provides on-demand research briefings on any topic members request. The GAO audits federal programs for efficiency, effectiveness, and legal compliance, and reports findings to Congress. The CBO scores legislation for fiscal impact. All three are independent support agencies, but they serve different functions: research, audit, and budget analysis respectively.

How much influence do congressional staff actually have on legislation?

Staff influence is substantial and varies with member seniority and engagement. Long-tenured committee staff often have deeper expertise on their issue areas than the elected members themselves. Staff draft bill language, negotiate amendments, manage committee schedules, and advise members on procedural strategy, all of which shape legislative outcomes.

Can the public access CRS and GAO reports?

GAO reports are fully public and searchable on gao.gov. CRS reports were not officially public until 2018, when Congress required their public release. Both are excellent primary sources for student research and help students see what independent legislative analysis actually looks like.

How does active learning help students understand the role of congressional staff?

Abstract descriptions of 'staff influence' do not register the way that actually trying to do the staff's job does. When students research a policy issue and then have to brief a 'senator' who asks hard follow-up questions in real time, they immediately understand why staff expertise matters and how that expertise translates into policy influence.