How to Contact ALL Your Elected Officials, National and Local, and All Government Agencies

I was digging around the internet for easy ways to find elected officials, and I found a government website that you need to explore.

Usa.gov is an encyclopedic look at everything related to the government in the United States: federal, state, and local elected officials, government programs, tourism, benefits, disasters, elections, laws, and history, to name just a few topics. This government website is well organized, easy to navigate, and easy to understand, without the jargon that you encounter when perusing government documents directly.

My specific goal was to find a good resource for my readers who do not live in South Carolina but still resonate with the issues I discuss. A South Carolina resident can find all the state senators and representatives at scstatehouse.gov and contact them en masse from that website.

I did that, and I will tell you what happened below. But I wanted a similar resource for residents of other states that did not require me to track down 50 state legislatures worth of websites. I found it! Let’s explore what you can find at usa.gov.

Government Agencies and Elected Officials

I clicked usa.gov/elected-officials and found the White House switchboard (202 456-1414) and the comments line (202 456-1111) that I can use to leave my thoughts for the current resident of the White House. I then found that Senator Lindsey Graham can be contacted by calling 202 224-3121 and dialing extension 4-5972, or I can get Senator Tim Scott at extension 4-6121.

If I would prefer to contact a US Representative, I can start with William Timmons at 202 225-6030 or Jeff Duncan at 202 225-5301. On the House listings, I can click the Representative’s name and see the most recent headlines for that member.

The same page gets me a link to all the state governors. To call Henry McMaster I can dial 803 734-2100. The page with the phone number also includes the Lieutenant Governor’s phone number and links to sc.gov for more information about state-specific issues.

Should I want to go local, I can contact the mayor. Spartanburg is the city closest to me which has a mayor. The phone number for Junie White was 864 596-2033 and he was up for reelection when I wrote this article.

For county government, I clicked Spartanburg County, SC on a map that contained outlines of all the counties in the United States and got a page specific to my county. Spartanburg County was organized in 1785 and had a 3.10% unemployment rate in 2018. To contact someone in county government I would visit spartanburgcounty.org or visit 366 N Church Street, Main Level Suite 1100. No phone number was given.

Let me just pause and appreciate the person who linked that map of county outlines to every county in the entire nation. Wow!

Forms, By Agency

I found an A-Z index of all the departments and agencies of the United States Government. Use the search bar for this. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, commonly called the ATF, is listed under “B” in the alphabet. Their phone number is 202 648-7777. The parent agency for the ATF is the Department of Justice.

Jobs and Unemployment

With 2020’s shutdowns affecting large sectors of the economy, you may find yourself looking at a career change. Usa.gov has entries on topics such as starting your own business, finding a government job, and avoiding work-at-home scams.

Branches of the US Government

If you want to understand the workings of our national government, usa.gov gives the official information clearly and without spin with infographics suitable for a high school civics class. It explains the procedures for proposing and passing a new law and for appointing new judges in a way that a casually interested reader is likely to find engaging and informative. For instance, Supreme Court Justices are appointed for life and serve an average of 16 years.

Learn About Life in the US

If you are new to the United States, you will want to visit this section. It explains the official US holidays, including the difference between Memorial Day and Veteran’s Day. It details our currency and tells you how to redeem mutilated money with the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP).

If your paper money is burned, for instance, you can get full or partial credit for the value of the burned money if you satisfy the BEP that it was destroyed. Every year the BEP processes requests to redeem over $35 million in damaged currency. Who knew?

Travel and Immigration

I went to the Recreation and Travel Within the US page and visited South Carolina with Darius Rucker as my tour guide. Then I visited the pages for Oklahoma and Nebraska. Each state had its page organized according to its own preferences.

Disasters and Emergencies

In the midst of a disaster, you need a quick place to find information. Usa.gov has you covered with a link to your state’s emergency management division. When I looked at the South Carolina page, I found no disasters occurring today. I typed in my zip code and discovered that I live too far inland to have a hurricane zone assigned, but a resident of Beaufort County is in Zone A.

Since there were no emergencies when I looked, I found no shelters or closings listed. Those will be added during hurricanes and other disasters.

Voting and Elections

I can use this page to find out which states require voter identification and which documents qualify. I can get a broad summary of federal election law as defined in the Constitution and where to report problems. I don’t get state specific information on this page.

Taxes

I can find out on this page who needs to file a tax return and which forms are appropriate for a nonresident taxpayer. Just in case you were wondering, nonresidents file a 1040NR form.

Benefits, Grants, and Loans

Perhaps you are wondering where to find more money. This page links to information about such hot topics as Social Security, Retirement, and Military Benefits. If your benefit check was lost or stolen, there is a link to find out where to report the loss. There is even a diagram of a US Treasury Check to help you figure out why you received money from the government if you were not expecting it.

What to Do With All This Information

Usa.gov has to be my all-time favorite government website because it is straightforward and easy to understand while covering a myriad of topics that I might wish to explore.

Bookmark the website and use it when you need to contact someone in the government. Since I blog about firearms and the Constitution, I hope you will stay informed on legislation that affects your rights, especially relating to the First and Second Amendments.

When you find a piece of pending legislation that will affect how you go about your daily life, take the time to find the names and addresses of your elected officials and let them know how they can help you by passing, defeating, or amending the laws being considered.

Recently I looked up South Carolina S177, a bill that the Senate passed addressing vaccination. The South Carolina Senate unanimously approved a bill stating that employers cannot fire people who choose not to be vaccinated. Before passing it, though, they tacked on an amendment exempting healthcare workers. If you work with the elderly or infirm, you CAN be fired for not choosing to be vaccinated.

This law directly affects me, because I work in healthcare. Dr. Fauci, Chief Medical Advisor to the President, has just suggested a hold on the Johnson and Johnson version while they sort through the issue of whether it is causing blood clots in women between the ages of 18 and 48. This raises concerns for me.

I went to scstatehouse.gov and chose the option to email all the senators and representatives at once. I could have contacted only the ones who are in my district, but I felt that all of them deserved to know my desires. I received automatic replies from 12 senators and 22 representatives acknowledging my email.

I also received personal replies from Doug Gilliam, Roger Nutt, and Robert J May III. I appreciated them taking the time to respond to my communication and will watch their careers to see how they fare.

Of course my email was specific, direct, polite, and to the point. Legislators use voter communication as a way to gauge the popularity of a given bill, so the office of each lawmaker probably reported my message as one person desiring a yes on the bill with a request to remove the amendment.

I could have been even more effective if I had spent the morning calling all the legislators and leaving each one a message with my advice on this issue.

Remember these points when you contact your elected officials for best results.

• Be polite. They don’t like being cussed out any more than you do when you are working.
• Be direct. Get to the point quickly.
• Give your name, address, and phone number so they know whether you are a constituent.
• Be persistent. Your name will become familiar if you communicate often.
• Compose the message yourself. Several legislators have told me they disregard form letters.

If you find an issue that will affect your life, pursue it! In addition to contacting your elected representatives, you can get involved in a local political organization, have conversations with friends and family, volunteer in your community, and VOTE.

Keep reading our blog and watch our YouTube channel to learn more about firearms with a focus on safety and proficiency.

Thanks for reading!