This week's holiday is all about giving thanks, but there’s always room to dig into legitimate grievances. House staff are working long hours. They have lower average salaries for comparable jobs in the private sector and the executive branch. Many are looking for the exit.

Those are just some of the findings of the recently released 2021 House Office of Diversity and Inclusion study on staff pay and diversity, which got a notable 52.5 percent employee response rate. Huddle did a joint interview with Modernization Committee Chair Rep. Derek Kilmer (D-Wash.) and vice chair Rep. William Timmons (R-S.C.) about the fresh data.

LONG DAYS AND NIGHTS — House staff reported working an average of 48.4 hours per week, across all tenures and including House officers and district staff. The workweek is longer for D.C.-based member office and committee staff with less than 21 years of service: 50.9 hours worked per week on average.

Kilmer himself feels that strain of working transcontinentally as a West Coast member. At 11:20 p.m. last Wednesday, he walked out the door with an aide after wrapping up a tele-townhall for constituents. Timmons said the hours-worked numbers surprised him, as he had thought long in-session weeks would be balanced by quieter times during recess. But the data has him questioning how it really shakes out. “I'm still kind of grappling with that in my mind because when we have district work weeks and we're not here, I feel like it should average out. But you know, if that's the number, it’s the number,” he told Huddle.

BUT HE’S NOT ALL SILVER LINING: “It even stretches the bad pay further,” Timmons quipped of the House’s long hours.

OMB GETS YOUNG — Shalanda Young is expected to get the nod Wednesday to serve as director of the Office of Management and Budget, Laura Barrón-López and Caitlin Emma reported overnight. President Biden will nominate the 14-year veteran of the House Appropriations Committee, who already has bipartisan backing, today. Here's the story ahead of today's announcement: Biden to pick Capitol Hill favorite to run his budget office

GOOD MORNING! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Wednesday, November 24, where there’s no sign of the Senate’s staff pay study that we hear was completed earlier this year. But there’s more from our interview with Kilmer and Timmons.

NOTE: Huddle will be off for Thanksgiving this Thursday and Friday but back in your inboxes on Monday, Nov. 29.

TENURE VS. TURNOVER — One big theme Reps. Kilmer and Timmons addressed was brain drain: “The institution has a retention problem,” Kilmer told Huddle.

For D.C.-based member office and committee staff with less than 21 years of service, 51.1 percent said they have seriously considered looking for employment elsewhere. The modernization committee is well aware that’s a problem – and it’s trying to stock Congress’ box of incentives with bigger office accounts to pay staff more and extra professional development opportunities.

On average, House staffers have been in their current role for 3 years and have spent 5.6 years on the Hill.

PAID A PITTANCE — Compensation isn’t the only reason staffers leave the Hill, but it is certainly a big one. For D.C.-based member office and committee staff with less than 21 years of service, 53.3 percent of respondents said they disagreed with the statement “I believe my compensation is appropriate.”

Under the House-passed fiscal 2022 Legislative Branch spending bill, members’ office accounts would get a 21 percent boost aimed at helping to recruit and retain staff. But with another continuing resolution on the horizon and no solution in sight for Senate action on new spending levels … staff will have to keep waiting to see those extra dollars.

“I’ve lost four staffers to anywhere from 50 percent to 100 percent pay increases downtown,” said Timmons. “I can raise your pay 5 percent and move some things around maybe, but I can’t pay you double.”

Age matters, duh: The staff report found a serious gap based on age: “Compared to younger House staffers, older staffers are more satisfied with their salary and benefits, and less likely to quit. Older House staffers have significantly higher salaries, Hill tenure, job type, and paid leave days compared to younger staffers.”

And so much more...There’s a TON more data where this came from. We’ll be featuring other takeaways (I see you, district staff!) and more in the coming weeks.

IMMIGRATION CONSIDERATION — Democratic staff met with the Senate parliamentarian Tuesday to talk about the immigration language in the House-passed social spending bill. It includes a provision that allows millions of undocumented immigrants to apply for work permits and receive temporary protection from deportation.

Marianne and Laura Barrón-López report that two people familiar with the meeting described it as positive and were optimistic that the immigration provisions would move forward to what's known as a "Byrd bath," a formal test of their budgetary effects to comply with Senate rules. More from Congress Minutes here.

HOUSE HUNTERS: LOBBY SHOP — Have you raised a glass or schmoozed at any of the Capitol Hill outposts of K Street regulars? Our own lobbying reporter duo Hailey Fuchs and Emily Birnbaum dug into more than 20 townhouses they’ve identified around Capitol Hill that serve as influence hubs and a chill place to hobnob with lawmakers outside the constraining halls of the Capitol. These days, Capitol Hill townhomes aren't for living in. They're for lobbying.

WHO WANTS TO BE (TAX) A MILLIONAIRE? — The Joint Committee on Taxation issued a major revision to its estimates of the Democrats’ multi-trillion climate and families plan, finding that under the measure, millionaires will pay more in taxes (The prior JCT estimate forecast that millionaires would see their tax burdens drop 1.7 percentage points). Under the legislation, those making more than $1 million would pay 3.2 percentage points more in taxes in 2022 — and even more in subsequent years. Anthony has more on why that matters here.

QUICK LINKS

— 'Schoolhouse Rock!' songwriter Dave Frishberg died last week. Here is a Fresh Air interview with him.

— Does Congress spend too much time away from Washington? Another break raises questions, from David Lightman at McClatchy.

TRANSITIONS

Jamie Jackson is joining House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer’s (D-Md.) office as senior counsel. She previously was security clearance counsel for the White House Office of Presidential Personnel, and is a House Armed Services Committee alum.

Kara van Stralen is now director of policy and research for Colorado Gov. Jared Polis. She most recently was chief of staff for Rep. Mike Levin (D-Calif.).

TODAY IN CONGRESS

The House is not in session.

The Senate is not in session.

AROUND THE HILL

Sit tight and prep that Turkey. It’s looking quiet on Capitol Hill.

TRIVIA

TUESDAY’S WINNER: Phil Poe correctly answered that President John F. Kennedy spared a White House Turkey it’s fate on a plate by saying “We’ll just let this one grow” years before the term “pardon” was adopted as part of the tradition.

TODAY’S QUESTION: When did Congress set a fixed date for the Thanksgiving holiday?

The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Huddle. Send your answers to [email protected]

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Follow Katherine on Twitter @ktullymcmanus