In the final weeks before Election Day, voters have been pressing candidates on the economy, health care, and foreign policy. But a representative's job goes well beyond the votes they cast and the questions they ask in committee. When a veteran's disability claim stalls, a retiree's Social Security payment stops without explanation, or a family is days from an international trip with no passport, the last-ditch call often goes to a congressional office. The First Amendment guarantees Americans the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances, and legislative casework is part of how Congressional offices resolve those grievances today.
That work has deep historical roots in our politics, and is one of the few things that every single Member of Congress has in common, from both sides of the aisle. But casework is a tradition, not a requirement, so every office handles it differently.
That makes casework a fair question for anyone asking for the job. The Member may not take the calls, but they decide how many staff work on casework, how casework trends make their way into policy, and how seriously the office takes this work.
Here are five questions that constituents can raise at a town hall and local journalists can add to a candidate questionnaire or debate.
- How will you personally be involved in casework? Who will run it, how will they report to you, and what skills will you hire for? A candidate who has thought about this will have a specific answer.
- How will you make help reachable across the whole district or state? Many constituents cannot get to a district office during business hours. Ask about mobile office hours, partnerships with local organizations, and language access.
- Will you publish basic casework numbers each year, and how will you know your team did a good job? That means how many cases the office opened and which agencies they involved, plus a plan to ask constituents for feedback and act on it.
- What problem from someone's casework have you fixed — or would you fix — through legislation? Casework is an early warning system for broken programs. The best offices carry what they learn from individual cases into bills, oversight, and committee work.
- What happens to people with open cases when an office changes hands? Whether a candidate is leaving an office or inheriting one, constituents in the middle of a case should not fall through the cracks.
That last question is not hypothetical. On Jan. 3, dozens of congressional offices will close and dozens more will open. Constituents waiting on a benefits decision or a visa will be caught in the handoff, and how well they are served depends on commitments the winners make now.
Every candidate promises to fight for the people they represent. Casework is where that promise gets tested, one person at a time. Before you cast your ballot, ask them how they plan to keep it.
Anne Meeker is Executive Director of the Constituent Service Institute and a 2026–27 policy fellow at the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation at Harvard Kennedy School. She previously served as managing director at POPVOX Foundation, and led casework for a congressional office.
