The bitter partisanship of modern-day politics affects virtually every corner of Capitol Hill, and staffers are hardly immune. But top congressional aides say they’ve found ways to cut through the toxicity and nurture relationships across the aisle.
Happy hour gatherings, extended travels outside the Beltway, committee work, and just the shared experience of being in the pressure cooker of the Capitol together — all are unifying forces that have helped to build bridges, foster civility and defuse the tensions that frequently define contemporary Washington, according to aides of both parties.
“At the end of the day, it’s really hard to get a job on the Hill, it’s really hard to get your foot in the door, so I have respect for folks that really worked hard to get here, and to work here and make the country better for everyone,” said Sara Guerrero, communications director for Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.). “There’s a base level of respect for folks who want to do this work and improve the country and [pursue] what they believe is the best way to embody their patriotism.”
Because of today’s hyper-partisan environment, staffers — like the members they work for — are not always eager to broadcast how friendly they are with those from the opposing party. One senior GOP leadership aide requested anonymity to speak about working across the aisle because of that very dynamic.
But in private, there is an understanding and a willingness to work with the other party. If they didn’t, nothing could get done.
“We have to work together to make this place run,” the GOP leadership aide said.
To be sure, individual personalities mean there is wide variance in how much the staffers collaborate. Some staffers have little to no contact with their counterparts in the opposing party.
The disposition of lawmakers themselves also impacts how much staffers interact with their counterparts across the aisle. If a member is particularly partisan and combative, that can trickle down. Conversely, those who work for members more interested in bipartisan relationship-building and initiatives will talk to the other party more.
But “most staffers have been able to get past it,” the GOP leadership aide said of that polarization. And with some, “it’s actually a fairly cordial relationship.”
“You can generally have off the record conversations that are actually considerate,” the staffer said.
It’s not always easy. And several events of recent years have acted to strain relations between the parties in ways that still endure.
For many Democrats, the Capitol attack of Jan. 6, 2021, created a gulf of distrust across the aisle. Some Republicans, meanwhile, still see the lingering effects of the coronavirus pandemic on Capitol Hill culture, in which a moratorium on regular events and a shift to remote work — particularly for Democratic staffers — made it harder to foster bipartisan relationships.
Still, staffers have found sometimes unique ways to break through the negativity for the sake of advancing shared goals. Their experiences at home, in some cases, have provided a guide.
Carlos Paz, the chief of staff for Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.), said the wide-ranging political diversity within his own family has given him plenty of practice navigating opposing viewpoints at holiday dinners — and now in the Capitol.
“We’ve got everything. We’ve got Trump [supporters]. We’ve got traditional Republicans. We’ve got Blue Dog Democrats. We’ve got the most liberal lefties. And everything in between,” he said. “And a focus on our values — I think that helps align us [and] is what keeps us from arguing.”
Sometimes, the nature of the specific position helps to encourage bipartisan connections.
Nnemdilim “Nd” Ubezonu, the floor director for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-
N.Y.), characterized the floor staff as “a tight-knit community” — one that meets not infrequently outside the Capitol for happy hours with other floor aides, past and present.
“We’ll make sure that everybody knows each other, everybody knows their predecessors. And we’ll get together kind of often to make sure that we’re continuing to establish those relationships and strengthen that community,” she said.
The floor teams also relish the opportunity to travel together, she said, since some of those trips — known as “staffdels,” as opposed to “codels” — feature fact-finding missions that benefit everyone.
“Floor staff does like to travel together. And so the ‘staffdels’ that we go on are very uniquely curated to understanding the parliamentary procedures of other countries,” Ubezonu said. “Those types of trips allow us to get a lot closer together.”
Committee assignments can also foster camaraderie and forge unusual alliances, as lawmakers of both parties race to put their stamp on legislation that can actually become law — a goal that’s virtually impossible without reaching across the aisle to craft bipartisan bills.
Victoria Rivas, is national security advisor for Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, but she also works closely on spending bills given Aguilar’s seat on the Appropriations Committee. It’s a panel with a long history of working together to fund the government — notwithstanding the current spending fight — and those dynamics have persisted this year even in the face of the Trump administration’s go-it-alone approach.
“Being on the committee, it’s always drilled into you early that if you want to work on anything in a bipartisan way that you can,” Rivas said. “So it’s building those relationships over time and staying honest with individuals when you’re meeting with them and you’re talking about priorities.”
Staff relationships across parties are largely dictated by political realities.
Divided government gives staffers more reason to talk and work with each other than when one party has control of the House, Senate, and White House, as Republicans do now. The GOP’s most significant legislative victory this year, for instance, was the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which passed with no Democratic support or input.
But because of the 60-vote cloture threshold in the Senate, Republicans still need buy-in from Democrats to advance major must-pass legislation like government funding and the annual defense authorization bill. It’s in negotiations like those that the common denominator of shared experience becomes crucial.
“At the end of the day, the Capitol community is a large — sometimes dysfunctional — family. When you strip away the political debate of the moment, there’s a shared experience and sense of value that unites people around here,” a longtime Senate Republican aide shared, requesting anonymity due to internal office policies.
“Especially for the people who have been around through different administrations, majorities, minorities — we really do respect and look out for one another.”
Al Weaver contributed.
