Hip-hop gets him through spreadsheets

Hometown: Louisa, Va.

Age: 30

Alma Mater: College of William & Mary

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Washington Examiner: How did you end up at the RSC?

Dickerson: When I was in school, I interned for congressman C.W. Bill Young, from St. Petersburg, Fla. I really enjoyed that and I was lucky enough to come back after I graduated. I started there eight days after I graduated, worked for him for six years. Started out as [a legislative correspondent], worked my way up, ended up being [legislative director] for the last year of his life. He passed away in October 2013, so that was kind of a tough time. We certainly had to pack up everything, close out all the casework, finish off the mail, and it’s time to go on a job hunt for the first time of my career, really.

I was lucky enough that the position and the portfolio opened up on the policy staff at the RSC. If I could design my perfect job, it would be that. I was lucky enough to apply and start working for Chairman [Steve] Scalise at the time — that was two years ago.

Examiner: What’s at the top of your agenda right now?

Dickerson: Right now, I’m working on writing the RSC’s budget. That’s kind of the premier policy project that the RSC puts out every year. It touches everything that we handle. The budget really touches everything. We’ve got a short timeline to do that and we’re hoping to get that out at the same time the House budget comes out at the end of February.

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Examiner: Why budgets for you, why fiscal policy?

Dickerson: It kind of speaks to me. It really does touch everything that the government does. It’s really the Article I power of the purse to tax. And to spend that money is Congress’ job. We’re the representatives of the people. You get to effect a lot of change, a lot of positive change that needs to happen to get us on the right path so we don’t go bankrupt.

Examiner: What’s the most fun you’ve had on the job, writing budgets?

Dickerson: It’s a huge challenge to write a budget resolution when you’ve got a small team of people that you work with. I have been the primary staff author of the last two RSC budgets and the upcoming one. The budget committees, they’ve got 20, 30 folks that do that job. I’ve got other responsibilities, too, with the other issues in my portfolio.

It’s incredibly rewarding when you’re done and you can hit send. It gets a vote on the floor every year, and that’s a really rewarding experience.

Examiner: What are some of the innovative policy ideas you’re working on now?

Dickerson: Last fall I guess we had two big legislative turning points that we all knew were coming and frankly we as a Republican conference didn’t tackle those issues head on. We knew we were going to have a funding deadline, on Sept. 30. The RSC put out a policy proposal to actually fund the government through the full fiscal year, at responsible spending levels and hold this administration accountable. We actually were able to put forward an alternative to just passing another short-term [continuing resolution].

Same thing with the debt ceiling. We knew we were going to have to do something with the debt ceiling when that came around. We were able to put out a bill called the Terms of Credit Act to show that there was a good conservative alternative to just raising the debt ceiling and spending more.

That’s what we want to continue doing through our RSC budgets and through our different task forces that we work on.

Examiner: What do you do when the budget’s finished?

Dickerson: Leave. Go on vacation.

We like to get out of town and just leave the Blackberry here and relax.

We went down to Charleston last year. It was an amazing time. There’s great food down there and it’s really cool to see all the history and Civil War stuff and beautiful architecture. The year before went down to Orange County, Calif., and toured around Los Angeles. I’d never been to the West Coast before, so it was a good experience.

Examiner: What do you do for fun outside of work?

Dickerson: I like to read political history. I’m kind of a little nerdy in that respect. Certainly a big fan of D.C. sports.

Examiner: Redskins? Nationals? Capitals? All the above?

Dickerson: I would go — in that order, probably.

Examiner: Soccer?

Dickerson: I’m a big soccer fan. But I grew up outside of [the University of Virginia] and grew up rooting for UVA sports, so my favorite players were UVA players. Two of the biggest names were Tony Meola and Tab Ramos, and they both ended up playing for the MetroStars, which is, of course, D.C. United’s rivals. So I ended up rooting for them, as opposed to the more local team. I guess I’m kind of conflicted on that front. But I do like D.C. United and I guess I’m looking forward to the new stadium.

Examiner: Are you a music fan?

Dickerson: I like listening to hip-hop and electronic dance music — the high-energy stuff, to go through Excel spreadsheets.