The annual rush to wrap up legislative work before Christmas means some harried weeks of late nights and early mornings in the office for congressional staff. The added crush of lame-duck legislation that won’t have a shot under GOP control of the House compounds the long hours. There’s a lot to do, and not a lot of days left to do it in.
That’s precisely why the Congressional Progressive Staff Association and the Congressional Workers Union want to add another item to their bosses’ to-do lists: enacting overtime regulations for Hill staffers.
The staff groups joined Demand Progress, an advocacy group for congressional reform, in sending letters to outgoing Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy — the presumed, but far from assured, incoming speaker — asking that the House pass a resolution adopting regulations drafted by the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights that would provide aides with the same overtime protections as federal and private-sector employees.
