§3008 Commission staff

Summary

The Commission must have a personnel and administration committee made up of the Chairman, the Cochairman, the senior Commission member from the House minority, and the senior Commission member from the Senate minority. That committee decides hiring, firing, and pay by majority vote, except the Chairman alone names and sets pay for the staff director and the Cochairman alone names and sets pay for his top staffer. Each of them may also pick at least four professional staff who report to the person who appointed them, but those picks need the committee’s approval. Staff hires do not have to follow the usual federal competitive hiring or pay-grade rules in title 5. For pay, benefits, and other employment rights, Commission employees are treated as congressional employees under 5 U.S.C. 2107. For the rule in section 3304(i)(1) of title 5, Commission staff are treated as if paid by the Secretary of the Senate or the Chief Administrative Officer of the House. Those employee-status rules have been in effect since June 3, 1976.