Surviving Inside Congress

Want to work for Congress or just understand it better? Learn the ins-and-outs of how Congress really works.

The fifth edition of Surviving Inside Congress includes all you need to know to succeed as a congressional staffer or stay informed as a private citizen. Understanding how Congress really works or doesn t, as the case may be is the difference between being a valuable contributor to the nation s work and being an outsider who never really knows what is going on.

Surviving Inside Congress has been revised and expanded to reflect important developments during the 114th and 115th Congresses. Updates include:
A new chapter on the President s role in the legislative process
New research on social media best practices
How and why Congress is dysfunctional and how it can be reformed
And a floor procedures manual and congressional glossary for the 115th Congress.

Mark N. Strand has been the president of the Congressional Institute since 2007, and was named a Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government Institute of Politics Fellow in 2017. Prior to that he spent ten semesters as an adjunct professor of legislative affairs in the Graduate School of Political Management at George Washington University. He writes a blog, The Sausage Factory, that provides an inside look at legislative strategies and procedures. Strand spent nearly 24 years on Capitol Hill in both the House and the Senate, most recently serving as Chief of Staff to James Talent (R-MO). He served as the Staff Director of the House Committee on Small Business when Talent was Chairman. He was also chief of staff for Reps. Bill Lowery (R-CA) and Stan Parris (R-VA). He has also served as a Legislative Director and a Press Secretary. During a brief interlude from the Hill from 2001-2002, Strand was Vice-President of Government Affairs for the American Water Works Company the largest publicly held water utility in the United States. Strand obtained a master s in Legislative Affairs from GWU's Graduate School of Political Management, an MBA in Marketing from the University of Phoenix, and was an undergraduate double major in Political Science and History at Excelsior College of the University of New York. He completed the Stennis Congressional Fellowship in 2000. He frequently speaks to new Hill staff, government affairs employees and Washington-based diplomats about how the Congress works (or doesn t, as the case may be). In addition, he regularly works with Congressional offices on management issues. He resides in Virginia with his wife Susan, and has three daughters, one of whom works in the House of Representatives.

Michael S. Johnson served 14 years in the executive and legislative branches of government, first on the White House communications staff of President Gerald R. Ford. He served as press secretary and later as chief of staff for former House Republican Leader Bob Michel of Illinois. Johnson entered the private sector in 1990, as a lobbyist with Texas and Ohio law firms. He served for five years as a senior vice president of APCO Worldwide, an international public affairs firm, before joining the OB-C Group in 2001. Johnson has served on the staff of every Republican National Convention from 1980-2008, has taught policy and public affairs, and continues to serve as a political and communications advisor. He is co-founder of the Congressional Institute, has served as its chairman and continues to serve on the board of directors. He writes periodic columns for the newgopforum.com. A native of Illinois who was reared and educated in South Dakota, Johnson began his career in journalism as a reporter and eventually executive editor of a small Illinois daily newspaper. He is married to Thalia Assuras and has five children.

Jerome F. (Jerry) Climer arrived on Capitol Hill in 1967 and served for two years as the legislative staff (offices had fewer personnel back then) to a freshman Member of the U.S. House, who managed to stay in office for 28 years. After a few years in the executive branch, he returned to the House as a chief legislative assistant and then for six years as chief of staff to former Congressman Ed Bethune (R-AR). His final five official years on Capitol Hill were served as leadership staff assistant to the late Congressman Guy Vander Jagt (R-MI). Climer co-founded the Congressional Institute, which he served as president for 20 years. After retiring in 2007 and relocating to North Carolina, he continues to serve as president of the Public Governance Institute, a 501 (c)(3) organization and heads Policy Implementation Consultants, LLC, a private consulting endeavor. He is secretary of Edenton Chowan Partnership, Inc., a public/private not-for-profit focused on economic development.