23 Eye-Opening Confessions From A Former Congressional Intern That Will Shift The Way You See US Government

Watching the news or scrolling through social media, it can seem like the US government is, well, to put it mildly, a literal circus. So it was really eye-opening (and even a little bit reassuring) to read this Q&A with a former Congressional intern who invited people on Reddit to "Ask Me Anything" about what it's really like working on the Hill.
They started the thread by writing, "For context, I spent the summer after my junior year of college interning for one of the most prominent representatives in the House. It was during the summer of 2024, so I was in D.C. during some wild events such as the Trump Butler rally, Trump/Biden debate, Biden dropping out, Netanyahu's address to Congress, and much more. Ask away!"
Here are some of the best questions and answers:
1.Q: Did your own politics affect how you worked?
A: Not really. I worked for a member of my party, so our views were already aligned. Plus, a lot of the job was researching and relaying objective information, so I didn't have a lot of power to assert my own opinions.
2.Q: I'm trying to get a bill passed. Does it help to have thousands of people write their representatives, or is it a waste? Are calls better than using email forms?
A: Absolutely. One of my Poli Sci professors told my class that for every one person who raises an issue, there are about 500 people who feel the same way.
He did an experiment in which he had 10 different students a week write letters to a representative, asking him to make some random bird the official bird of California. Four weeks and 40 student letters later, the representative proposed the bill on the House Floor.
Pro-tip: Have your people call their own representatives. Offices hardly listen to non-constituents. Calls and emails are fine. Also, show up at town halls and tell the representatives face-to-face.
3.Q: I live in an area where my rep is a bunghole who doesn't listen to their constituents. Also, they're of the opposite party from me. Are people like me just out of luck when it comes to getting our voices heard in Congress?
A: Apathy is what bad representatives feed on. Don't give up. Stay peaceful. Advocate. Vote.
4.Q: Do you get paid? If not, how does the son of a farmer from Podunk, Idaho, manage the cost of living?
A: I was paid a monthly stipend from my office and also received a scholarship from my university. The scholarship covered housing; the stipend covered food... barely. Hill internships are skewed towards students whose parents have money, especially for the unpaid positions. I'm middle class, so I needed the stipend + scholarship to make it work. So if you're the son of a farmer from Podunk, Idaho, you either have to find an office that pays well or see what your college can do for you...or work your butt off, save money, and self-fund the entire thing.
5.Q: I'm from the UK. Over here this sort of role can be step one for a full time political career. Is that true for you?
A: Kind of, yeah. Many interns will go on to be entry-level staffers, then work their way up the office hierarchy. For me, I just used it as a résumé builder for law school. I plan to be a career attorney. I have no desire to work in politics.
6.Q: Any hit stories from your time at the hill? Like a scandalous affair?
A: No scandals, but the energy on the Hill was so wild after President Biden dropped out of the 2024 race. I wasn't even close to the office when a New York Post reporter stopped me for an interview. There were running bets about who the VP would pick as her running mate.
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7.Q: What's the ratio of sleezebags to honest brokers?
A: Fortunately, better than the media would have you believe. There are two types of Congressmembers: 1) workhorses, and 2) showhorses.
Workhorses do their job well, represent their people, and genuinely advocate for what's right. Showhorses, on the other hand, are the fringe minority you see on TV — think Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert. They get all the attention because they're a bottomless source of entertainment and outrage. But, they hardly show up to hearings, hardly visit their districts, and don't care about anything other than getting Twitter (or X) moments.
But like I said, the majority who put in actual work, you won't see on the news.
8.Q: How can the layman tell if their representative is a workhorse or a showhorse? And likewise, what do you suggest as a way to keep them accountable?
A: Excellent question! I don't mean it as a bailout when I say, "you know it when you see it," but it does involve a little bit of instinct and intuition. If you go on your representative's Twitter, and they have zero interest in discussing policy, and try to grab the media's attention every chance they get, that might be a symptom of a showhorse. Workhorses typically don't care about the limelight and show genuine care when they interact with constituents.
The simplest form of accountability is your vote. If you want to do extra, I encourage you to respectfully call your representative's office, send letters, send emails, attend townhalls, and volunteer for campaigns if you're comfortable with that.
I can't stress enough the importance of remaining respectful. If you have a complaint and speak to your representative or the staff in a combative or aggressive manner, you have just given them a free ticket to ignore you.
9.Q: Do staffers from the opposite parties socialize?
A: I certainly did. In our professional capacity, talking politics is like sparring — it's all in good faith and nobody is trying to hurt the other guy. But talking shop is kind of rare to begin with. Staffers on the Hill are all cool with each other because, at the end of the day, we're all in a 9-5 that we just try to get through.
10.Q: Do you think that there should be term limits on members of Congress? Say maybe 12 years total as either a Representative or Senator?
A: There are pros and cons.
Pro: higher turnover leads to new faces who are more aligned with the zeitgeist.
Con: Less experienced newcomers are more vulnerable to corruption because lobbyists are persuasive AF.
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11.Q: How are they persuasive?
A: Lobbyists get paid six, sometimes seven figures, to convince people to support certain policies. You don't get that kind of money without having the gift of gab.
12.Q: What was the most surprising thing you learned during your time at Congress?
A: The Hill is a lot more professional than some people believe. I thought I would see a lot of heated debate and fiery moments, but it's really like any other office. The representative is the boss, and the staff are the employees who try to fulfill the office's goals, whether that's getting a bill passed or raising an important issue on the House Floor.
13.Q: How accurate was Veep?
A: I haven't seen it, but a staffer in my office told me that it's the most accurate depiction of D.C. ever seen on TV.
14.Q: What's something that people in Congress (writ large) are most concerned with that doesn't appear on most Americans' radars?
A: Great question. It really depends on the current circumstances, but when I was there, a lot of people were stressed about the Farm Bill. It wasn't talked about much on the news (the news hardly covers substantive policy), but the bill was going to have MAJOR implications for American agriculture.
15.Q: Do the reps essentially have everything paid for? As in, do they get credit cards/expense accounts to charge things like meals and groceries and fancy club memberships for "networking?" Or do they pay for things themselves like us regulars? I've wondered this because of how long they all stick around, even when terminally ill or exhibiting outward signs of dementia.
A: I don't know, to be honest. I wasn't privy to information on the Congressmember's personal finances. All I know is that each office has a supply store credit card that's used for just that...supplies. A staffer got on my case once because I accidentally wasted an envelope that cost $0.00000000001 in taxpayer dollars.
And I'm as bewildered as you are as to why they stick around for so long. Like, don't they want some peace and relaxation before they "go?"
16.Q: Who was the strangest politician you ever interacted with? Who was the nicest?
A: Nicest: Senator Cory Booker. I was on the Senate subway one day, and he came in while doing a media interview. He could see that I was watching him, because as soon as he was finished, he came and sat right next to me. He asked me a bunch of questions, "Who do you work for?" "Where do you go to school?" Then, when we got to the stop, I asked if we could take a selfie. He enthusiastically snatched my phone out of my hand and snapped a bunch of pics.
Strangest: Nobody that I ever came across. Although I've heard that Ro Khanna is kind of a meme among House staffers. When Congress is out of session, the representatives will go home to their districts, and the D.C. staff will just wear business casual clothes to work. Ro Khanna, I've heard, will stay in D.C. and show up to the office in a full suit.
17.Q: Do you think we should pay members of Congress more as a means to curb corruption (e.g., playing the stock market with insider information)?
A: Yes to higher pay for staffers. D.C. is expensive, so a lot have to commute from Virginia or Maryland.
I don't think paying congressmembers more would make much of a difference. If you can make hundreds of thousands, even millions, playing the stock market, I'm not sure if a $15- 20k raise would prevent that.
What would prevent that, in my opinion, is legislation prohibiting sitting members of Congress from holding stocks while in office. Each member should be legally obligated to put all private assets in a blind trust, similar to President Carter and his peanut farm.
18.Q: What are your thoughts about age limits on the back-end?
A: Age limits seem a little arbitrary to me. I see the merit of the idea, but some members who are "up there" in age are still very sharp (i.e., Bernie Sanders). I can understand both arguments, though.
19.Q: Did you ride that underground Capital subway?
A: Yep. The Capitol Subway was like the school bus — a place to chop it up with the other interns and make friends.
20.Q: Where did you stay during your internship? How much did your short-term housing cost? Was it with a local uni, or did your school set you up with a housing provider?
A: I stayed in a small apartment with four other Hill interns (none of whom I knew beforehand). I found the space on my own through a housing website. It was roughly $4,000 for the whole summer. The housing cost was covered through my university scholarship, however.
21.Q: How do congressional staffers track who is important? If big donors call up or lobbyists call up, do they get special treatment?
A: I think staffers get a lot of inquiries from those types of people, but they schedule around who they think aligns with the office's goals. So if you're a strong environmental advocate, you're not gonna take meetings with Big Oil.
22.Q: Watching the news, things in the US feel pretty heated over the past several years. Especially concerning the state of democracy. Was that felt on the Hill, or was it mostly business as usual?
A: We didn't have a choice but to keep moving forward. If we held our breath and waited because of uncertainty, nothing would get done.
23.Q: Did your internship make you more or less hopeful for the United States' future?
A: More. If our country is to see better days, it's because of young people who see the perils of our political system and are committed to making real change rather than lip service.
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