Perhaps the most heralded former executive branch employee who later served in Congress is retired Sen. John Glenn, who spent election day this year orbiting the Earth. But Glenn is not alone among former feds who made the leap to the legislative branch.
For instance, in Virginia's 8th congressional district this year, former Office of Personnel Management staffer Demaris Miller (R) unsuccessfully tried to oust Rep. James Moran (D), a former Health, Education and Welfare Department budget analyst and Library of Congress employee. As the two retired civil servants battled for the hearts of Northern Virginia voters, other former executive branch employees earned a place on Capitol Hill.
Former Equal Employment Opportunity Commission staffer Stephanie Tubbs Jones, D-Ohio, won a seat in the House. Newly elected Rep. Rush Holt, D-N.J., previously did a stint with the State Department, focusing on nuclear weapons proliferation and arms control issues.
Members of the next Congress have worked in more than two dozen federal departments and agencies. Most hail from military service, some have served as political appointees, and some as career employees.
Below is a list, by department and agency, of the members of Congress who once served in the executive branch. We compiled the list based on biographies in the 1998 Almanac of American Politics and from biographies of new members on National Journal's Cloakroom. Members with an asterisk by their name are newly elected.
DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES
Office of Management and Budget
Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich.
Agency for International Development
Rep. Sander M. Levin, D-Mich.
Agriculture Department
Rep. Jerry Weller, R-Ill.
Rep. Nick Smith, R-Mich. (also Air Force Intelligence)
Rep. Chip Pickering, R-Miss.
Rep. Larry Combest, R-Texas
Arms Control and Disarmament Agency
James A. Leach, R-Iowa
Border Patrol
Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas (also Army)
Central Intelligence Agency
Rep. Porter Johnston Goss, R-Fla. (also Army Intelligence)
Rep. Bob Barr, R-Ga.
Commerce Department
Rep. Harold E. Ford, Jr., D-Tenn.
Defense Department
Rep. John M. Spratt, Jr., D-S.C.
Energy Department
Rep. Joe L. Barton, R-Texas
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C.
Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, D-Ohio *
FBI
Rep. Michael G. Oxley, R-Ohio
Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
Rep. Thomas M. Barrett, D-Wis.
Health, Education and Welfare Department (now defunct)
Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Texas
Rep. James P. Moran, Jr., D-Va. (also Library of Congress)
Housing and Urban Development Department
Rep. Doug Bereuter, R-Neb. (also Army)
Interior Department
Rep. Christopher B. Cannon, R-Utah
Rep. Frank R. Wolf, R-Va. (also Army)
Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska (also Army Air Corps)
Interstate Commerce Commission
Edward Whitfield, R-Ky. (also Army Reserves)
Justice Department
Rep. Charles B. Rangel, D-N.Y. (also Army)
Rep. John Shadegg, R-Ariz.
Rep. Asa Hutchinson, R-Ark.
Rep. Tom Campbell, R-Calif.
Rep. David McIntosh, R-Ind.
Rep. John E. Porter, R-Ill. (also Army Reserves)
Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
Sen. John W. Warner, R-Va. (also Navy, Marine Corps)
Labor Department
Rep. Thomas M. Foglietta, D-Pa.
Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, D-N.Y. (also Navy)
Rep. Stephen Horn, R-Calif. (also Army)
National Institutes of Health
Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett, R-Md. (also U.S. Naval Aerospace Medical Institute)
Peace Corps
Rep. James T. Walsh, R-N.Y.
Rep. Sam Farr, D-Calif.
Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn.
Rep. Tony P. Hall, D-Ohio
Rep. Thomas E. Petri, R-Wis.
Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, D-Conn. (also Army Reserves)
Small Business Administration
Rep. Michael P. Forbes, R-N.Y.
Rep. John Thune, R-S.D.
Rep. Lamar S. Smith, R-Texas
State Department
Rep. Patsy T. Mink, D-Hawaii
Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas
Rep. Rush Holt, D-N.J. *
Tennessee Valley Authority
Rep. William L. (Bill) Jenkins, R-Tenn. (also Army)
Transportation Department
Sen. Robert F. Bennett, R-Utah (also Army National Guard)
U.S. Marshals
Rep. Jack Metcalf, R-Wash. (also Army)
White House
Rep. Marion Berry, D-Ark.
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif.
Rep. Christopher Cox, R-Calif.
Rep. Tillie K. Fowler, R-Fla.
Rep. Rob Portman, R-Ohio
Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio
Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan.
ARMED SERVICES
Air Force (includes Air National Guard)
Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, R-Colo.
Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa.
Sen. Thomas A. Daschle, D-S.D.
Rep. Herbert H. Bateman, R-Va.
Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas
Rep. Sam Johnson, R-Texas
Rep. Van Hilleary, R-Tenn.
Rep. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
Rep. Joseph R. Pitts, R-Pa.
Rep. Peter A. DeFazio, D-Ore.
Rep. Roger F. Wicker, R-Miss.
Rep. Terry Everett, R-Ala.
Rep. Fortney H. (Pete) Stark, D-Calif.
Rep. John Cooksey, R-La.
Rep. Clifford B. Stearns, R-Fla.
Rep. Michael Bilirakis, R-Fla.
Rep. John Linder, R-Ga.
Rep. David E. Bonior, D-Mich.
Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev.
Rep. Paul E. Gillmor, R-Ohio
Rep. Steven H. Schiff, R-N.M.
Rep. John Shadegg, R-Ariz.
Rep. Richard A. Gephardt, D-Mo.
Rep. Jerry Kleczka, D-Wis.
Rep. Ken Lucas, D-Ky. *
Rep. Ernie Fletcher, R-Ky. *
Army (includes reserves and Army National Guard)
Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala.
Sen. William V. Roth, R-Del.
Sen. Paul Coverdell, R-Ga.
Sen. Max Cleland, D-Ga.
Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, D-Hawaii
Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass.
Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb.
Sen. Richard H. Bryan, D-Nev.
Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg, D-N.J.
Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M.
Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I.
Sen. Strom Thurmond, R-S.C.
Sen. Ernest F. Hollings, D-S.C.
Sen. James M. Inhofe, R-Okla.
Sen. Slade Gorton, R-Wash. (also Air Force)
Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis.
Rep. Alan B. Mollohan, D-W.Va.
Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash.
Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va.
Rep. Robert C. (Bobby) Scott, D-Va.
Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif. *
Rep. Solomon P. Ortiz, D-Texas
Rep. Martin Frost, D-Texas
Rep. Bill Archer, R-Texas
Rep. Jim Turner, D-Texas
Rep. Bob Clement, D-Tenn.
Rep. Ed Bryant, R-Tenn.
Rep. John J. Duncan, Jr., R-Tenn.
Rep. George W. Gekas, R-Pa.
Rep. Bill Goodling, R-Pa.
Rep. Frank R. Mascara, D-Pa.
Rep. William J. Coyne, D-Pa.
Rep. E.G. (Bud) Shuster, R-Pa.
Rep. Paul E. Kanjorski, D-Pa.
Rep. John E. Peterson, R-Pa.
Rep. Bob Etheridge, D-N.C.
Rep. Sherwood Boehlert, R-N.Y.
Rep. Jose E. Serrano, D-N.Y.
Rep. Benjamin A. Gilman, R-N.Y.
Rep. Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y.
Rep. Peter T. King, R-N.Y.
Rep. Rodney P. Frelinghuysen, R-N.J.
Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr., D-N.J.
Rep. Collin C. Peterson, D-Minn.
Rep. Jim Ramstad, R-Minn.
Rep. John D. Dingell, D-Mich.
Rep. John Conyers, Jr., D-Mich.
Rep. Don Sherwood, R-Pa. *
Rep. Joseph Hoeffel, D-Pa. *
Rep. Joe Knollenberg, R-Mich.
Rep. Robert E. "Bud" Cramer, D-Ala.
Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska
Rep. Julian C. Dixon, D-Calif.
Rep. George E. Brown Jr., D-Calif.
Rep. Thomas W. Ewing, R-Ill.
Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill.
Rep. Steve Buyer, R-Ind.
Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind.
Rep. Leonard L. Boswell, D-Iowa
Rep. Greg Ganske, R-Iowa
Rep. Harold D. Rogers, R-Ky.
Rep. William D. Jefferson, D-La.
Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif.
Rep. F. Allen Boyd, Jr., D-Fla.
Rep. Bill McCollum, R-Fla.
Rep. David J. Weldon, R-Fla.
Rep. Sanford D. Bishop, Jr., D-Ga.
Rep. Mac Collins, R-Ga.
Rep. Nathan Deal, R-Ga.
Rep. Charlie Norwood, R-Ga.
Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill.
Rep. William Lipinski, D-Ill.
Rep. Edward J. Markey, D-Mass.
Rep. John J. LaFalce, D-N.Y. (also Navy)
Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Ala.
Rep. Dennis Moore, D-Kan. *
Army Corps of Engineers
Sen. Daniel K. Akaka, D-Hawaii
Coast Guard (includes reserves)
Sen. Frank H. Murkowski, R-Alaska
Rep. Howard Coble, R-N.C.
Rep. William D. Delahunt, D-Mass.
Rep. Gene Taylor, D-Miss.
Marine Corps
Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan.
Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont.
Sen. John H. Chafee, R-R.I.
Sen. Charles S. Robb, D-Va.
Sen. Craig Thomas, R-Wyo.
Rep. Vic Snyder, D-Ark.
Rep. Matthew G. (Marty) Martinez, D-Calif.
Rep. Lane Evans, D-Ill.
Rep. Wayne Gilchrest, R-Md.
Rep. Amo Houghton, R-N.Y.
Rep. John P. Murtha, D-Pa.
Rep. Steven T. Kuykendall, R-Calif. *
Navy (includes reserves)
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
Sen. Bob Smith, R-N.H.
Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C.
Sen. Richard G. Lugar, R-Ind.
Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa
Sen. John F. Kerry, D-Mass.
Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss.
Sen. Robert Kerrey, D-Neb.
Sen. James M. Jeffords, R-Vt.
Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash. (also Foreign Service)
Rep. Tom Bliley, R-Va.
Rep. Norman Sisisky, D-Va.
Rep. James V. Hansen, R-Utah
Rep. Sonny Callahan, R-Ala.
Rep. Bob Stump, R-Ariz.
Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz.
Rep. Bob Livingston, R-La.
Rep. Ron Lewis, R-Ky.
Rep. Ron Packard, R-Calif.
Rep. Randy (Duke) Cunningham, R-Calif.
Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill.
Rep. John Joseph (Joe) Moakley, D-Mass.
Rep. James L. Oberstar, D-Minn.
Rep. Bill Barett, R-Neb.
Rep. Joe Skeen, R-N.M. (also Air Force Reserves)
Rep. Maurice D. Hinchey, D-N.Y.
Rep. Cass Ballenger, R-N.C.
Rep. John A. Boehner, R-Ohio
Rep. Ralph S. Regula, R-Ohio
Rep. Floyd D. Spence, R-S.C.
Rep. John Tanner, D-Tenn.
Rep. Ralph M. Hall, D-Texas
Compiled by Brian Friel and Katy Saldarini.