Also called: Professional Staff Member, Committee Counsel
Leads the expert staff behind a congressional committee, shaping hearings, investigations, and bills.
Committee staff research issues, write questions for hearings, interview witnesses, and draft major laws like defense budgets. The staff director runs the team for the committee chair. Experts in areas like health or finance are prized.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Master's degree, about 8 years after high school. Bachelor's plus a law, policy, or subject-matter graduate degree.
Ways in: 4-year college, Graduate school, Professional school. Training cost: $60k – $150k.
Majors to look at: Political Science, Public Policy, Economics, Law (JD).
Growing slowly.
Low risk in 5 years, medium in 10. AI helps research and draft hearing questions; leading investigations and negotiating major bills stay human.
Classes: AP U.S. Government, AP English Language, Statistics, Speech and debate.
Official data: O*NET occupation 11-1031.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.