Intern-related excerpts from “Congressional Brain Drain” report
A recently released New America report by Alexander C. Furnas and Timothy M. LaPira provides an overview of declining Congressional capacity in an era of rising polarization and increasing political party competition. “As a consequence,” LaPira and Furnas write, “legislative staff in Washington are asked to do more and more, with less and less.” For most staffers, the limited resources of the legislative branch are revealed at step one in the Congressional staff pipeline: internships. These essential opportunities are the entry point for many future staffers and the keystone of the opportunity disparities and lack of diversity on Capitol Hill.
A Congressional internship is a unique source of professional connections, experience, and new opportunities. Unfortunately, as documented in the “Congressional Brain Drain” report, they are not easily attainable for many, especially for first-generation college students, students of limited economic means, and even for those who simply are not aware of the opportunities in Washington, DC; district office; and — at least during COVID — remotely from anywhere.
Most staffers start out as interns
“Just over half” of the Congressional staffers who took part in the study’s Congressional Capacity Surveys (CCS) “started their congressional staff careers as interns” (Table 7).
Most Hill internships are unpaid
LaPira and Furnas found that “[t]he overwhelming majority of staff who did start with an internship did so without any pay.” (Table 8) Anecdotally, the report notes, many of these unpaid internships were undertaken by people who had graduated college, so rather than genuine educational experiences for students, these unpaid internships were more akin to unpaid labor. The authors note that each chamber of Congress makes its own rules; the legislative branch is not bound by the Fair Labor Standards Act or other labor laws.
Unpaid internships outnumber paid internships at nearly four to one (ratio: 3.7:1). That is, 79 percent of internships on Capitol Hill are unpaid, a rate almost twice that of the private sector. All told, more than two of every five staffers on Capitol Hill started their careers as unpaid employees of the legislative branch.
— Alexander C. Furnas and Timothy M. LaPira
Many internships are still attained through personal connections
Disparities in opportunity for internships are not only the product of financial hardship. The report notes that “[i]n addition to being unpaid, internships are frequently the product of networking opportunities, which further limits access to future careers on the Hill.” This default to personal or political connections perpetuates a lack of diversity among staffers.
Internships reflect a general lack of diversity among Capitol Hill staffers
LaPira and Furnas cite the recent “Color of Congress” report by Dr. James Jones, which estimated that the 2019 House of Representatives’ intern class was 64 percent white, 13 percent Black, 5 percent Hispanic/Latino, 11 percent Asian/Pacific Islander, 0 percent Native American, and 3 percent Middle Eastern/North African. The authors concluded that “the dependence on unpaid internships for future careers on Capitol Hill suggests that they act as a significant obstacle to developing a more diverse legislative workforce.”
Diversity in the 2019 House of Representatives’ intern class
Some steps in the right direction
Much of the data in the Congressional Brain Drain report was collected before recent changes in the House of Representatives, including regulations in March 2019 providing each office with $25,000 per calendar year to pay interns and, in May 2020, allowing$10,000 of that funding to be used for district office interns or those working remotely during COVID. According to the authors, “though these funds are a step in the right direction, the House makes only enough money available for one FTE intern per office at a rate of $15 per hour; the Senate internship money can fund two FTEs.”
Still a long way to go
It is clear that many obstacles still stand in the way of Congressional internships for many people. In order to increase diversity on Capitol Hill and ensure that everyone has an equal opportunity, it is important to level the playing field for everyone and make internships more appealing and attainable.
The “Congressional Brain Drain” report highlights important disparities and offers several important suggestions for bridging these gaps. An intern-specific recommendation in the report emphasizes the importance of paying interns:
The pipeline for working in Congress is fit only for those with sufficient privilege and resources to accept non-paying or extremely low-paying employment. Recent funds allocated for internships are a good start, but are not sufficient. Congress should rethink internships in congressional offices as public service apprenticeships.
To this excellent recommendation, I would add two more:
Make internships more accessible. Although internships bring great connections for future careers, a big issue for those seeking internships when they are in college/ recently graduated is the lack of connections to those who offer internship opportunities. We need to make sure that all internship applications are better promoted to everyone and not just advertised through professional connections.
Make room for diversity. It was emphasized in the report that the internships in 2019 had very little diversity and it is something that we can work on in order to ensure that every race and ethnicity is represented and heard at every level of congress. Considering the fact that almost anyone who is in an influential political position started off as an intern, it is crucial to allow an equal opportunity to all races and ethnicities and allow them to have internships that can possibly lead to a successful career in the Hill.
Jennifer Graciano is an undergraduate political science major at the University of North Texas and an intern at POPVOX.
