Washington DC Internships 

Stories from my time on Capitol Hill

ANN ARBOR, MI  JULY 22, 2001

The Chandra Levy and Monica Lewinsky investigations have brought attention to the lives of Washington DC interns.  Twice I served as an intern on Capitol Hill, once with former Senator Donald Riegle of Michigan, and later with current Michigan Congressman Fred Upton.  By coincidence I used to live in the apartment complex where Levy was last seen.

Internships in Washington are acquired through a variety of means, but the best jobs typically are determined by who you know.  Most of the interns with whom I worked were from families with strong ties to the office, either socially or financially.  Although I submitted letters of recommendation for the internship my position was attained through less glamorous means--hounding the office manager with letters and phone calls.  Because so many clamor for these positions, the majority go unpaid.  

There is a subculture of interns in DC, especially during the summer.  Capitol Hill sponsors free speakers tailored to interns, there are various receptions and the bars in the city often have happy hour specials.  One summer I lived in dorm at George Washington University that was packed with summer interns. 

I served in Riegle’s office between my junior and senior year at the University of Michigan.  Chandra Levy worked for the Bureau of Prisons; Lewinsky for the White House.  No matter where you have your internship, I have found that it is essentially the same routine.  Interns help regular full-time staffers with the dirty work: answering the phone, writing letters to constituents, scouring the news for relevant articles, proof-reading legislation, setting up meetings, taking notes during hearings, etc.  I knew I guy who was working for Vice President Dan Quayle.  The only difference between his internship and mine was that he had access to free soda and snacks. 

Although interns play a minor role in an office, they still have the potential to cause a little trouble.  Interns are still staff members and they do represent they person for which they serve.  If an intern orders office supplies without sufficient funds in the Senator’s office bank account, the Senator could have a ‘bounced check’ on record.  This is especially true with the phones.  In Congress typically there is one main number to the office, and usually it is an intern who answers.  (Private phone lines do exist but they are seldom used).   On the other line could be the press, other congressmen, staffers, but most often concerned constituents.  I worked for Fred Upton when NAFTA was being debated and often received phone calls from the press asking for the Congressman’s opinion on the matter. 

The wildest incident I recall occurred when I worked for Senator Riegle.  I was one of approximately a dozen interns on staff during the summer.  One day we learned that one of our fellow interns had some pictures of herself posing nude in and around her DC apartment.   She had this idea that she would make a calendar for her boyfriend, each month with a different scandalous shot.  The problem came about when she decided to bring the pictures into the office.