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"Congressional employees are a special class. Exempt from most rules that apply to civil service or most appointive offices, they form a permanent professional cadre, irrespective of the political affiliation of the legislator for whom they perform office and business duties. Almost uniformly, they are of liberal persuasion, and have more than a little influence what legislation actually gets acted upon. They filter the information that reaches the legislator, and they largely regulate the arrangements for meetings and constituent concerns."

Art imitates life...

Yes Minister is a British sitcom that a friend turned me on to. Bureaucracy is statism the world over...

The Prime Minister offers Hacker the position of Minister of Administrative Affairs, which he accepts. Hacker goes to his department and meets his Permanent Secretary, Sir Humphrey Appleby, and his Principal Private Secretary, Bernard Woolley. While Appleby is outwardly deferential towards the new minister, he is prepared to defend the status quo at all costs. Woolley is sympathetic towards Hacker but as Appleby reminds him, his civil servant superiors will have much to say about the course of his future career, while ministers do not usually stay long in one department. Many of the episodes revolve around proposals backed by Hacker but frustrated by Appleby, and others revolve around proposals promoted by the latter but rejected by Hacker, which Sir Humphrey attempts by all means necessary to persuade Hacker to accept. They do occasionally join forces in order to achieve a common goal, such as preventing the closure of their department or dealing with a diplomatic incident.