Closing a Congressional Office: Overview and Guide to House and Senate Practices

R. Eric Petersen
Analyst in American National Government

Turnover of membership in the House and Senate necessitates closing congressional offices. The closure of a congressional office requires an outgoing Member of Congress to evaluate pertinent information regarding his or her staff; the disposal of personal and official records; and final disposition of office accounts, facilities, and equipment. In the past several years, the House and Senate have developed extensive resources to assist Members in closing their offices. These services are most typically used at the end of a Congress, when a Member’s term of service ends, but most of the services are available to an office that becomes vacant for other reasons. This report provides an overview of issues that may arise in closing a congressional office, and provides a guide to resources available through the appropriate support offices of the House and Senate.

This report, which will be updated as warranted, is one of several CRS products focusing on various aspects of congressional operations and administration. Others include CRS Report RL33220, Support Offices in the House of Representatives: Roles and Authorities, by Ida A. Brudnick; CRS Report RL34188, Congressional Official Mail Costs, by Matthew Eric Glassman; CRS Report R40939, Legislative Branch Revolving Funds, by Ida A. Brudnick and Jacob R. Straus; and CRS Report R41366, House of Representatives and Senate Staff Levels in Member, Committee, Leadership, and Other Offices, 1977-2010, by R. Eric Petersen, Parker H. Reynolds, and Amber Hope Wilhelm.


Date of Report: September 8, 2010
Number of Pages: 10
Order Number: RL34553
Price: $29.95

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Leaving Congress: House of Representatives and Senate Departures Data Since 1989

Jennifer E. Manning
Information Research Specialist

Parker H. Reynolds
Analyst in American National Government

R. Eric Petersen
Analyst in American National Government

Members of Congress leave the House or Senate for a variety of reasons; these may include resignation, death, or chamber action during a Congress, and retirement, electoral defeat, or pursuit of another office at the end of a Congress. In the 101st Congress (1989-1990) through September 2010 of the 111th Congress (2009-2010), on average, two Senators and eight Members of the House of Representatives have left before the conclusion of a Congress. Over the same period, on average, 10 Senators and 55 Members of the House left Congress upon expiration of their terms of office. These figures include those Members who have announced an intention to retire at the completion of the 111th Congress.

The data provided here may offer insight concerning the turnover of membership in each chamber, but any such conclusions should be drawn with care, as there appears to be no pattern to Member departures. This may be due in part to the individualized nature of congressional careers, which might include numerous events or actions that could affect Members’ decisions to end their congressional service.


Date of Report: September 24, 2010
Number of Pages: 7
Order Number: R41428
Price: $19.95

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The Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010: Summary and Legislative History

Bill Heniff Jr.
Analyst on Congress and the Legislative Process

On February 12, 2010, President Barack Obama signed H.J.Res. 45 into law, as P.L. 111-139. In addition to an increase in the statutory limit on the public debt to $14.294 trillion, the act contains two titles dealing with budgetary matters. Title I, referred to as the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, establishes a new budget enforcement mechanism generally requiring that direct spending and revenue legislation enacted into law not increase the deficit. Title II, which contains only a single section, pertains to routine investigations by the Comptroller General aimed at eliminating duplicative and wasteful spending. This report provides a summary and legislative history of P.L. 111-139, focusing on the features of the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010.

The Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 (Statutory PAYGO Act) establishes a process intended, as Section 2 of the act states, “to enforce a rule of budget neutrality on new revenue and direct spending legislation.” The budgetary effects of revenue and direct spending provisions enacted into law, including both costs and savings, are recorded by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on two PAYGO scorecards covering rolling five-year and 10-year periods (i.e., in each new session, the periods covered by the scorecards roll forward one fiscal year). The budgetary effects of PAYGO measures are determined by statements inserted into the Congressional Record by the chairmen of the House and Senate Budget Committees and referenced in the measures. As a general matter, the statements are expected to reflect cost estimates prepared by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). If this procedure is not followed for a PAYGO measure, then the budgetary effects of the measure are determined by OMB.

Shortly after a congressional session ends, OMB finalizes the two PAYGO scorecards and determines whether a violation of the PAYGO requirement has occurred (i.e., if a debit has been recorded for the budget year on either scorecard). If so, the President issues a sequestration order that implements largely across-the-board cuts in nonexempt direct spending programs sufficient to remedy the violation by eliminating the debit. Many direct spending programs and activities are exempt from sequestration. If no PAYGO violation is found, no further action occurs and the process is repeated during the next session.

The new statutory PAYGO process was created on a permanent basis; there are no expiration dates in the act. The process became effective upon enactment.

As a budget enforcement tool, the new statutory PAYGO process is aimed at preventing, or at least discouraging, net deficit increases arising from the enactment of direct spending and revenue legislation. Any costs designated as emergencies are excluded from the scorecards, and significant costs associated with four specified categories of legislation may be excluded as well. In addition, significant savings stemming from the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) Act, establishing an insurance program for long-term care, are excluded from the scorecards. Finally, debt service costs are excluded as well.

The statutory PAYGO process does not address deficit increases, stemming from changes in direct spending or revenue levels, that are projected to occur under existing law. Other budget enforcement procedures, such as the reconciliation process under the Congressional Budget Act (CBA) of 1974, may be used to reduce deficit levels projected under existing law. Further, the statutory PAYGO process does not apply to discretionary spending, which is provided in annual appropriations acts.


Date of Report: September 13, 2010
Number of Pages: 26
Order Number: R41157
Price: $29.95

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Retirement Benefits for Members of Congress

Prior to 1984, neither federal civil service employees nor Members of Congress paid taxes to Social Security, nor were they eligible for Social Security benefits. Members of Congress and other federal employees were instead covered by a separate pension plan called the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS). The 1983 amendments to the Social Security Act (P.L. 98-21) required federal employees first hired after 1983 to participate in Social Security. These amendments also required all Members of Congress to participate in Social Security as of January 1, 1984, regardless of when they first entered Congress. Because the CSRS was not designed to coordinate with Social Security, Congress directed the development of a new retirement plan for federal workers. The result was the Federal Employees’ Retirement System Act of 1986 (P.L. 99- 335).

Members of Congress first elected in 1984 or later are covered automatically under the Federal Employees’ Retirement System (FERS), unless they decline this coverage. Those who already were in Congress when Social Security coverage went into effect could either remain in CSRS or change their coverage to FERS. Members are now covered under one of four different retirement arrangements: 

·         • CSRS and Social Security;

·         • The “CSRS Offset” plan, which includes both CSRS and Social Security, but with CSRS contributions and benefits reduced by Social Security contributions and benefits; 

·         • FERS and Social Security; or

·         • Social Security alone. 

Congressional pensions, like those of other federal employees, are financed through a combination of employee and employer contributions. All Members pay Social Security payroll taxes equal to 6.2% of the Social Security taxable wage base ($106,800 in 2010). Members enrolled in FERS also pay 1.3% of full salary to the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund. In 2010, Members covered by CSRS Offset pay 1.8% of the first $106,800 of salary, and 8.0% of salary above this amount, into the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund.

Under both CSRS and FERS, Members of Congress are eligible for a pension at age 62 if they have completed at least five years of service. Members are eligible for a pension at age 50 if they have completed 20 years of service, or at any age after completing 25 years of service. The amount of the pension depends on years of service and the average of the highest three years of salary. By law, the starting amount of a Member’s retirement annuity may not exceed 80% of his or her final salary.

As of October 1, 2008, 429 retired Members of Congress were receiving federal pensions based fully or in part on their congressional service. Of this number, 278 had retired under CSRS and were receiving an average annual pension of $64,800. A total of 151 Members had retired with service under both CSRS and FERS or with service under FERS only. Their average annual pension was $37,824 in 2008. .


Date of Report: September 14, 2010
Number of Pages: 16
Order Number: RL30631
Price: $29.95

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The Budget Reconciliation Process: The Senate’s “Byrd Rule”

Bill Heniff Jr.
Analyst on Congress and the Legislative Process

Reconciliation is a procedure under the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 by which Congress implements budget resolution policies affecting mainly permanent spending and revenue programs. The principal focus in the reconciliation process has been deficit reduction, but in some years reconciliation has involved revenue reduction generally and spending increases in selected areas. Although reconciliation is an optional procedure, it has been used most years since its first use in 1980 (20 reconciliation bills have been enacted into law and three have been vetoed).

During the first several years’ experience with reconciliation, the legislation contained many provisions that were extraneous to the purpose of implementing budget resolution policies. The reconciliation submissions of committees included such things as provisions that had no budgetary effect, that increased spending or reduced revenues when the reconciliation instructions called for reduced spending or increased revenues, or that violated another committee’s jurisdiction.

In 1985 and 1986, the Senate adopted the Byrd rule (named after its principal sponsor, Senator Robert C. Byrd) on a temporary basis as a means of curbing these practices. The Byrd rule was extended and modified several times over the years. In 1990, the Byrd rule was incorporated into the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 as Section 313 and made permanent (2 U.S.C. 644).

A Senator opposed to the inclusion of extraneous matter in reconciliation legislation may offer an amendment (or a motion to recommit the measure with instructions) that strikes such provisions from the legislation, or, under the Byrd rule, a Senator may raise a point of order against such matter. In general, a point of order authorized under the Byrd rule may be raised in order to strike extraneous matter already in the bill as reported or discharged (or in the conference report), or to prevent the incorporation of extraneous matter through the adoption of amendments or motions. A motion to waive the Byrd rule, or to sustain an appeal of the ruling of the chair on a point of order raised under the Byrd rule, requires the affirmative vote of three-fifths of the membership (60 Senators if no seats are vacant).

The Byrd rule provides six definitions of what constitutes extraneous matter for purposes of the rule (and several exceptions thereto), but the term is generally described as covering provisions unrelated to achieving the goals of the reconciliation instructions.

The Byrd rule has been in effect during Senate consideration of 18 reconciliation measures from late 1985 through the present. Actions were taken under the Byrd rule in the case of 14 of the 18 measures. In total, 65 points of order and 52 waiver motions were considered and disposed of under the rule, largely in a manner that favored those who opposed the inclusion of extraneous matter in reconciliation legislation (46 points of order were sustained, in whole or in part, and 43 waiver motions were rejected).


Date of Report: September 13, 2010
Number of Pages: 39
Order Number: RL30862
Price: $29.95

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