Some congressional aides might find   it stifling to have a sibling or parent for a colleague.

But it’s had the opposite effect on Lindsay Hayes, 30, outgoing press secretary for Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska). Working with her father and younger brother for the past few years so delighted her that she had second thoughts about taking a job off the Hill that would force them apart.

Colin, 25, her younger brother, is a legislative assistant to Sen. Craig Thomas (R-Wyo.). Brian, 57, her father, is the labor policy director on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. They have worked together in the upper chamber for the past two years and often lunch together in the Dirksen cafeteria.

Even monsoon-like winds couldn’t keep the trio away from the reflecting pool on a recent pre-election afternoon. Some were more punctual than others — it’s a long-standing family joke.

“Sorry I’m late,” said Colin to his father.

“What held you up?” his father asked, innocuously, for now.

Lindsay smoothed her brother’s flying lapel and fixed her dad’s windswept hair.

Lindsay has worked for Stevens for four years; Colin has worked for Thomas for nine months, with two and a half years spent working on the staff of Sen. Pete Domenici’s (R-N.M.) Energy Committee. Brian came to the Hill two years ago after a career in private practice as a labor and employment attorney. Each weekend he commutes to Washington from the family home in Wilbraham, Mass.   

There are obvious ways in which the family’s closeness shows. When Colin first moved to Washington he moved in with Lindsay and her husband. “It was great,” said Lindsay. “Colin and my husband get along great.”

Brian, whose understated sense of humor makes him one of those fathers who isn’t parentally embarrassing, insists he doesn’t cramp his children’s style. “I don’t really oversee what they’re doing,” he said. “We’ve always been a close family, [but] oversight responsibility ended years ago.”

Debating issues, however, is another story.

“We have an ongoing debate about ANWR,” said Lindsay, referring to the contentious issue of opening up oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in northeast Alaska.

“It’s nice,” said Lindsay. “There are good discussions. Each of us has a background in an area that the other doesn’t.”

Another issue of contention involves punctuality. Each has a different policy on the matter. “I have zero tolerance,” said Brian, casting a funny stern glance at his son. 

“I give myself a small window,” Colin said, smiling.

Lindsay surmised that her brother was generous with his assessment of his own promptness.

Growing up on a pond near the Berkshires, the family lived in a quiet neighborhood where everyone knew one another by the family car — theirs was a blue Volvo station wagon. The dinner table was often the place for political discussions. “It was always important to me and my wife [an Independent] that they were aware of issues and participating in the process in one way or another,” said Brian, who said he didn’t know that his children would wind up being Republican.

“I think in the hierarchy of things [I wanted them to] think for themselves,” he said. “On the other hand, I’m glad they think how they do.”

Lindsay said becoming a Republican was not immediate. “I was still working out party issues through college,” she said, explaining that she grew up in an environment where people challenged her to think about what she believed. Colin, too, said he had conservative leanings, but didn’t come to any conclusions early on.

Working in such close proximity often means that they hear about each other through colleagues. From time to time, they also work with aides in a family member’s office. “There are folks in Lindsay’s office I work with, but I don’t know that us being a family down here facilitates it,” said Colin. 

Lindsay explained that “people will stop by and say, ‘I talked to your brother today.’” It doesn’t bother her. She laughs it off, happy to hear news of her brother’s whereabouts.

Brian said he crossed legislative paths with his son last year on mine safety legislation. “Colin and I know some of the same people, [so there was] some overlap,” he said.

Colin said the overlap is humorous, not awkward or bothersome.

“It’s funny to be sitting in a meeting and someone says, ‘Oh, you look awfully familiar.’ Turns out they’ve been meeting with my father for the past year.”

Brian is obviously proud of his children, and credits them for encouraging his own move to the Hill. “They’ve done a remarkable job,” he said, pointing out their devotion to working in public service.

Being an older man in a sea of young aides — such as his children — has been an adjustment. “Certainly there are a preponderance of younger folks,” he said. “It’s a matter of attitude.”

Of course, Brian was also young once. In the ’70s he graduated from Georgetown Law School and then served on the National Labor Relations Board. He then left Washington only to return recently to join his children on the Hill.

Lindsay’s departure from Capitol Hill this week has left her a bit shell-shocked being away from her brother and father. “That was a really hard decision for me,” she says. “I love Sen. Stevens and I love the Hill. I sought both their [her father’s and brother’s] advice.

“There are some things you go to your parents for regardless. We’re blessed because my dad has a unique understanding of the things we’re going through and is in a great position to help.”

And her new job? It’s at Nahigian Strategies, and is relatively nearby.

Lindsay said she still hopes occasionally to join her brother and father for lunch. “Ahh, lunch,” she said wistfully.