Congress is said to play a major role in policymaking alongside the White House, and a Washington lobbyist explains Congress’s structure and ecosystem.
U.S. policy is not determined by the executive office alone. Congress and the work of its staffers have a major impact on long-term rulemaking. The basic process is for legislators and staffers to draft a bill, which then goes through committee review and is put to a vote in plenary session, before both chambers pass identical versions and the president signs it. The process of reconciling differences through amendments and inter-chamber negotiations is also an important source of information for companies and organizations.
Staffers are not merely administrative employees. They provide a high level of expertise in policy analysis, bill drafting and support for the legislative process, serving as the intellectual infrastructure that supports the quality and functioning of Congress. To understand Washington’s ecosystem, lobbyists play a role in delivering voices from the field at the appropriate time.
The total number of bills introduced in Congress varies from year to year, but is said to be around 8,000 in Washington. Only around 4–8% are actually enacted, falling to around 2% this session. It is impossible to track every bill, making it important to identify those with a major impact on an industry.
Lobbyists do more than understand the system. They interpret the relationships among committees, legislators, staffers, political parties and industry groups, serving as navigators who bring voices from the field to the policymaking process.