In 1981, three Republican congressional staffers (Bill Strauss, Elaina Newport,[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] and Jim Aidala) used their spare time at the Subcommittee on Energy, Nuclear Proliferation, and Government Processes of the Senate Committee of Governmental Affairs to write and sing parodies of current events.

Although the group attracted media interest at the time, they refused interview requests out of concern that their jobs could be endangered by press coverage and their behavior might affect Strauss and Newport's subcommittee chair Charles H. Percy.

They later moved to The Bread Oven on Pennsylvania Avenue, near the White House, and in the fall of 1986 the Capitol Steps began performing on a regular basis at Chelsea's Cabaret in the Georgetown area.

In September 1988, the Capitol Steps performed at the White House for an audience that included President Ronald Reagan, his wife Nancy, and hundreds of members of Congress.

The Capitol Steps released five albums during Reagan's two presidential terms, including Thank God I'm A Contra Boy, We Arm the World, and Workin' 9 to 10.

The popular impression of George W. Bush's intellect, fed by his frequent grammatical errors in speeches, allowed the Capitol Steps to reuse much Dan Quayle material.

The group poked fun at the improved national view of Bush and at figures who were becoming more relevant to the American public, including New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and French President Jacques Chirac.

Heightened security nationwide soon became a popular subject for the Capitol Steps and other comedians in the wake of media reports that travelers were being questioned in airports for having powdered sugar from a donut on their clothing.

In 2002 and 2003, their material lampooned SUVs and their drivers, Hans Blix, the collapse of Enron, the standoff with Saddam Hussein, Condoleezza Rice, Democratic hopefuls for the 2004 presidential nomination, the capture of Saddam Hussein, same-sex weddings, the Kobe Bryant trial, and the California gubernatorial recall election (in which they reused "The Fondler"—a Clinton-era parody of "The Wanderer"—with Arnold Schwarzenegger as the target).

Since 2004 the Capitol Steps have remained topical with their parodies, releasing songs about the marriage of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles, U.S. immigration-reform-law proposals, and the Tom DeLay scandals.

A 2001 "special high school release", revised and re-released in 2005, is made up of songs written for participants of the National Young Leaders Conference[19][20][21][22][23] in Washington, at which the group has performed.

The group released "Ronald the Red-Faced Reagan" for the 1987 holidays, "Like a Suburban Drone" in 1990 and "From Yankee Doodle to Pander Bear", a history of American political satire, early in Bill Clinton's first term.