Democrat Representative Sheila Jackson Lee (Texas-18) cursing out a staffer is perhaps the most unsurprising thing you will encounter this year. Getting to hear it on audio is. Some enterprising person who is probably on Jackson Lee's staff took the liberty of recording one of her rants at a hapless staffer, and it is not a disappointment. 

Jackson Lee has long been a mainstay on any list of the "meanest" bosses in Congress. This is from over a decade ago.

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas also hands out nicknames to the people who work for her. The Houston Democrat addressed one of her employees as “you stupid motherf**ker.” And not just once, but “constantly,” recalls the staffer, “like, all the time.”

Another Jackson Lee aide recounts the time her parents came to Washington to visit: “They were really excited to come to the congressional office. They’re small town people, so for them it was a huge deal. They were actually sitting in the main lobby waiting area….[Jackson Lee] came out screaming at me over a scheduling change. Called me a ‘stupid idiot. Don’t be a moron, you foolish girl’ and actually did this in front of my parents, of all things.”

Yet another staffer remembers requesting a meeting early on in her tenure to ask how best to serve the congresswoman. Jackson Lee’s response: “What? What did you say to me? Who are you, the Congresswoman? You haven’t been elected. You don’t set up meetings with me! I tell you! You know what? You are the most unprofessional person I have ever met in my life.” With that, Jackson Lee hung up the phone.

Now we have this audio that comes by way of Current Revolt, a Texas political website.

Leaked audio obtained by @CurrentRevolt shows Democrat Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee berating a staffer: "F**king idiots serve no goddamn purpose ... Nobody gives a shit about what you're doing and you ain't doing shit!"

(WARNING: Explicit language) pic.twitter.com/Lzl4AmKhkS

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) October 21, 2023

Sheila Jackson Lee • 0:01 - 0:09 Uh, you took a piece of paper from that woman, uh, regarding, uh, something that was owned by Ducantell. Where is it? What, what date was it? 

Staffer • 0:09 - 0:16 Oh, from Jerome took it upstairs. I'll have to call to pick it up when I switched out the papers. I'll call him. 

Sheila Jackson Lee • 0:17 - 1:02 I don't want you to do a g-d-n thing. I want you to have a f**king brain. I want you to have read it. I want you to say, Congresswoman, with such and such date. That's what I want. That's the kind of staff that I want to have. So some stupid other motherf**ker did it. And, and I don't have the information. Nobody sent me the information. I need to, uh, ensure my, um, schedule and, uh, you know, if, if Boo Boo did it, s**t  ass did it, f**k face did it. And nobody knows a g-d-n  thing in my office. Okay? Nothing. I gave it to you. Your job was to get it on the calendar, imprint it in your brain, or send me the information back saying, “Congresswoman, I made sure that the Ovide Ducantell event that you gave me, uh, for a so-and-so date at seven is on the f**king calendar.” Not to, oh, Jerome has it. 

Sheila Jackson Lee • 1:02 - 1:33 Okay. So when I called Jerome, he only sitting up there like a fat ass stupid idiot talking about, uh, what the f**k? He doesn't know. Okay? Both of y'all are f**k ups [inaudible]. It's the worst s**t  that I could have ever had put together. Two g-d-n  big ass children fucking idiots serve no g-d-n purpose. Ain't managing nobody. Nobody's respecting them. Nobody gives a s**t about what you're doing and you ain't doing s**t . And this is an example of it. I gave it to Jerome. This is not child's work.

Though the Congresswoman gets a lot of rightful criticism, for instance, if you are going to berate someone, focus on their behavior, not them personally, she does have a point.

She has just experienced a case of crap staff work. If you are an action officer on a staff, once you touch the action, in this case, a scheduling item, it is yours. Forever. It never belongs to "Jerome." So I'll have to take seriously her claim that this guy is a "f**k up." 

This is not to say fear can't be a powerful motivator. It can. I once worked for a guy (nicknamed "Jaws" when you were safely out of earshot) who once brought in three lieutenants who'd had some spectacular f**k ups and told them, "If one of you f**ks up again, I'm going to fire all three of you." He told me and my boss that if I didn't un-f**k something fast, we'd "both be new somewhere tomorrow." That can have an amazing positive impact on unit performance. If Jackson Lee had fired this guy, and maybe "Jerome," on the spot, it would have had some organizational benefit (“pour encourager les autres"). In this case, the effect was more like kicking a cur dog, a senseless act of brutality.

The second-order question is who trains young staffers to meet the boss's expectations. That is the person who really needs to be reamed. Another question that goes back over a decade is why does anyone work for her. That answer is easy: self-aggrandizement. As Doctor Phil would say, "You're getting something out of it." The "something" is moving up another rung on the career ladder.

Jackson Lee has never been my cup of tea. Not only is she a progressive, but it is hard to find an occasion where she could be mistaken for smart, insightful, or even competent. What is apparent in her public demeanor is that she is vicious. Perhaps to her credit, her public persona has long been rumored to mirror her private behavior.