Interns in the Spotlight on Capitol Hill
Congressional interns were recently in the spotlight with a House Select Committee on Modernization (“ModCom”) hearing in late April. This was a big deal for interns!
Internships on the Hill serve as a major pipeline for a future in politics, but changes must be made to ensure that these opportunities are open to students from diverse backgrounds and educational institutions.
The two-hour hearing featured seven panelists. While their areas of expertise varied, some common themes emerged throughout their testimonies:
1. A need for greater transparency, both in hiring and general data collection
The panel discussion opened with Dr. James R. Jones, Assistant Professor at Rutgers University-Newark. A former paid Congressional intern, Dr. Jones now studies sociology with a focus on racial inequality in Congress. He is the author of the recent report The Color of Congress: Racial Representation Among Interns in the U.S. House of Representatives. According to Dr. Jones, Congress currently fails to collect sufficient data on the race and gender of its employees. This lack of transparency in demographics makes it difficult to investigate discrimination and disparities in areas such as pay and employment.
Emily Hashimto, Director of Career Content at Idealist.org, agreed that transparency is crucial, especially in hiring practices. She said that an ideal internship listing should include information about where the intern would work, the experience the intern should expect to gain, and a sample task. Additionally, she advised that internship listings should only include role requirements. Listing unnecessary qualifications can lead to self-selection (we’ve all been guilty of this) among applicants who may be discouraged from applying.
Panelists suggested that a central portal for internship applications could allow for demographic data to be voluntarily disclosed to help Congress ensure greater equity in hiring and payment, while keeping the information private and anonymized so that it cannot be associated with individual applicants by name. Dr. Jones noted that the anonymized data should be made public by Congress.
2. Interns not only need to be paid, but sufficiently paid.
Pay Our Interns’ latest report, Who Congress Pays, found that Congressional office pay fails to meet interns’ financial needs. This is especially true for Black and Latino students, who are disproportionately underpaid. According to Carlos Vera, founder and co-director of Pay Our Interns, ten percent of Congressional offices don’t pay their interns at all. For those that do, the payment is rarely sufficient to meet interns’ living expenses in Washington, DC. While a typical office might pay a stipend of $1500 per internship, costs to the intern can easily exceed $5000 when accounting for housing, flights, and tuition for college internship credit. To address the funding gap, panelists advocated for increased funding to pay interns, including specific funds for Congressional committees to pay their interns. Vera also noted that some offices may need further guidance on how to utilize the funds if they currently aren’t utilizing the House paid internship fund.
3. A strong support system and adequate training are essential.
Audrey Henson, founder of College to Congress, highlighted a lack of consistency in intern training. The most enriching internship experience requires interns to feel capable and adequately trained prior to the start of their internship. She suggested a House-wide training program to help prospective interns with the skills to answer phones, analyze legislation, and more. She also suggested a standardized application process, similar to the Common App (scary, I know, but this would be better), to match students with their preferred offices.
Amiko Matsumoto, Senior Executive Coach at the Partnership for Public Service, also emphasized the importance of training and structure. Matsumoto identified three important components of a successful internship program: structure (clear standards and learning objectives), supervisor engagement (ensuring that supervisors regularly meet with interns), and integration (allowing interns to connect with the organization’s mission through informational interviews and events).
Rod Adams, US & Mexico Talent Acquisition and Onboarding Leader at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), similarly endorsed a centralized training structure. According to Adams, whose organization supports over 5,000 interns, a strong support network is vital. At PwC, interns are assigned a coach and designated a “pod” of 8 other interns. While payment is an important factor, Adams added that other incentives, such as earning “badges” for different skills, can provide motivation and reward in the long term (and serve as much welcomed resume boosters).
4. Stronger pipelines are needed for technologists.
Travis Moore, founder of TechCongress, drew attention to a different issue: the lack of technical expertise on the Hill and the potential for fellowships to help fill the need. Though a few tech fellowships currently exist, Moore suggested that they should be expanded and include a stronger support system. In addition to creating stronger pipelines for people of color, expanding diversity in Congress must include creating pipelines for technologists, too.
Overall, the ModCom hearing successfully provided insight into the challenges that interns face on the Hill. While there’s a firm grasp on the problems that must be addressed, implementing successful solutions may be part of a longer term effort. The panelists’ findings and ideas serve as a great starting point for enhancing the intern experience and empowering future Congressional interns.
The House Select Committee on Modernization (“ModCom”) is a bipartisan committee created in 2019 to investigate, hold public hearings, and develop recommendations to make Congress more efficient and transparent on behalf of the American people. In 2019, all 12 members introduced H.Res. 756, the Moving our Democracy and Congressional Operations Towards Modernization (MODCOM) resolution. The MODCOM resolution incorporates 29 of the committee’s recommendations and successfully passed the House in 2020. Learn more about the Select Committee here.
