Capitol floor staffers getting award for Jan. 6 efforts

WASHINGTON — While lawmakers and law enforcement have spoken out about the harrowing events at the Capitol on Jan. 6 and how they survived them, one group remains largely unrecognized — the nonpartisan floor staff of the House and Senate.

The Congressional Management Foundation is seeking to change that, by presenting a special “Democracy Award” to all the unassuming staffers within the two chambers who keep Congress running.

“These institutional staffers rarely are recognized, and most people don’t know what they do,” said Brad Fitch, CEO and president of the foundation. “So we really wanted an opportunity just to shine a light on them, if even for a brief moment.”

Fitch’s nonpartisan group has been around since 1977, and this year marks the fourth for the awards, which the foundation dubs the “Oscars for Congress.” The winners, chosen by a selection committee of mostly former members of Congress, are members and staff working to make the legislative branch more effective behind the scenes.

Fitch said he was reluctant to call out individual floor staffers for security reasons. Instead, the foundation created a blanket award to celebrate them as a group, including legislative clerks, technicians in charge of audio and video, and staffers who work for the Senate and House parliamentarians.

Many of them went

“well beyond the call of duty to keep the government working” as a proTrump mob stormed the Capitol in January — and even without their names on paper, they know who they are, Fitch said.

The other honorees this year hail from eight lawmakers’ offices, selected from a self-nominated pool of nearly 80. House members swept the field, shutting out senators in all four categories — workplace environment, transparency and accountability, innovation and modernization, and constituent services.