How Crisis Reshapes Government Talent

How do public servants respond to institutional crises? Existing theories emphasize bureaucratic resilience, but shocks that generate workplace dysfunction and threaten professional identity may affect the stability of bureaucratic labor. To address this question, we study the aftermath of the storming of the U.S. capitol on January 6, 2021. Using comprehensive data on congressional staffers from 2008-2022, we find increased turnover in Democratic offices relative to Republican offices. Subsequent staffing patterns also shifted: Democratic offices experienced declines in observable human capital (legislative experience and educational attainment) and increased reliance on temporary staff. These changes were further accompanied by reductions in the racial and gender diversity of congressional staff. Taken together, these findings suggest that workplace disruptions can degrade institutional capacity by reshaping the composition and continuity of the congressional workforce. More broadly, we demonstrate how political unrest reverberates through the personnel infrastructure of governance.