; and (B) shall receive travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, in accordance with applicable provisions under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code. (c) Staff (1) Authority to appoint staff The chair of the commission may appoint, prescribe the duties and responsibilities of, and fix the pay of such staff as the chair considers appropriate to assist the commission in carrying out its duties, without regard to the provisions of title 5, United States Code, governing appointments in the competitive service, and without regard to the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of such title relating to classification and General Schedule pay rates, except that no rate of pay fixed under this paragraph may exceed the rate of pay for a member of the commission. (2) Experts and consultants Section 202(i) of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 ( 2 U.S.C. 4301(i) ) shall apply with respect to the commission in the same manner as such section applies with respect to a standing committee of the Senate. (d) Duties With respect to a regular decennial census, the commission shall carry out the following duties: (1) Analyzing the shifts in population among the States. (2) Analyzing how the application of section 22(a)(2) of the Act entitled An Act to provide for the fifteenth and subsequent decennial census and to provide for apportionment of Representatives in Congress , approved June 18, 1929 ( 2 U.S.C. 2a(a)(2) ), as added by section 2(a), will affect the ability of the House of Representatives to carry out its responsibilities in an effective manner. (3) Recommending the optimal number of Members of the House and the optimal apportionment of Members among the States, taking into account— (A) shifts in population among the States; (B) the need to reduce disparities in the size of congressional districts