While Members of Congress are given wide latitude in organizing their office staffs, there is a typical structure to Representatives and Senators' offices. Office staffs are divided between several offices in Washington and in the Member's home district or state. Members of Congress keep most of their staffs in their Washington, DC offices. Washington is where all the legislative work takes place, and where the Member performs many of their official duties. Depending on the size of the district or state each Members server, he or she also maintains one or more district offices. The district offices assist constituents with matters relating to the Federal government, such as locating lost Social Security checks or helping a small business understand the Federal procurement process.

Not surprisingly, Senate offices typically employ many more staffers than do House offices. Senate offices have greater variability in the number of staffers employed, since individual office budgets are determined by population of each Senator's state. The average size of a Senate office staff is 35, with approximately 23 staffers in the Washington office and 12 in the district offices.

Senate offices tend to be organized along the same lines as House offices (with some exceptions):

Chief of Staff/AA: As in the House, a Senate Chief of Staff/AA is responsible for managing office operations, attending to the Senators needs, and making personnel decisions. Since in a Senate office there are more staff and a larger constituency than there is in a House office, the Chief of Staff may chose to delegate some responsibilities to a Deputy.

Deputy Chief of Staff: Works underneath the Chief of Staff to ensure that staff functions are being properly carried out, that work is being completed as assigned, and that budget is properly managed. Reports to the Chief of Staff/AA and takes on special projects at the direction of the Senator and the Chief of Staff.

Legislative director: Directs the legislative activity of the Senator and manages of staff of legislative assistants and legislative correspondents.

Legislative assistants: Since a Senate office typically employs more legislative assistants than a House office does, Senate LAs usually have fewer issue areas but more freedom to explore their issues in-depth.

Legislative correspondents: Senate offices typically hire more legislative correspondents, who respond to constituent inquiries and work closely with the legislative assistants to develop the appropriate responses.

Communications director: Many Senate offices have an entire communications department overseen by a communications director, who is responsible for the Senator's image in Washington, D.C and in the Senator's home state. Since there are fewer Senators, and it is considered a more prestigious position than the House, Senator's press operations are more likely to deal with the national press, in addition to local press, on a regular basis.

Press secretary: Many Senate offices, particularly in larger states, hire a press secretary to work underneath the communications director. Often, the communications director and the press secretary split media responsibilities, with the communications director handling national media and major-in state media such as the large market daily newspapers and televisions stations, and the press secretary dealing with smaller dailies, small market television, and radio stations.

Speechwriter: Many Senate offices hire a speechwriter who is responsible for producing floor statements, speeches to national and local organizations, and media statements. Senate speechwriters sometimes split their time between another function within the office, such as legislative assistant or press secretary.

Communications assistant: Unlike House offices, many Senate offices hire a communications assistant to help the communications director and press secretary. The communications assistant typically has administrative and logistical responsibilities, such as maintaining media lists, distributing news releases, and coordinating media appearances for the Senator.

Staff assistant: Senate offices employ several staff assistants to handle front desk operations, assist constituents, and perform administrative tasks.

This article is excerpted from the Vault Guide to Capitol Hill Careers.
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