Yes, there is a National staff and some chapters also have some paid staff. It’s a large part of the DSA’s budget but at least this information is available to DSA members.

That said, DSA reliance on staff is a point of contention within the org. Prior to this year, DSA’s leadership body was led by people who’s organizing experience largely comes from working in staff heavy NGOs. As such, they spent too much money on staff and now DSA is facing a budget crisis.

On the bright side, there is a Marxist wing of DSA that won a fragile majority on DSA’s national leadership body this year. I’m hoping they can make the organization more member driven at a national level. However, it remains to be seen if they’re able to pull that off.

If you have any questions about joining DSA dm me. It’s a “big tent” so it’s members identify as Marxist Leninists, Trotskyists, social democrats, anarchists, and everything in between. It’s also not very centralized so individual chapters can be very different. It’s a weird and sometimes frustrating place to organize. However, it can also be really rewarding depending on what you’re doing.