Roll Call: They went to DC to intern on the Hill. Then came the shutdown

By Nina Heller and Justin Papp
Posted October 29, 2025 at 5:57pm
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After arriving in Washington in mid-August, Olive Guillory quickly fell into a rhythm.

The Texas Tech junior, who is interning this fall in a House Democratic office, worked on the Hill during the day, answering phones and fielding constituent inquiries, and took virtual classes at night. In her free time, she explored the city, visiting the National Zoo, museums and monuments. 

Things changed on Oct. 1, when government funding lapsed and House internships were put on pause. The shutdown may have derailed her daily routine, but it also served as an introduction to the chaos that is Capitol Hill.

“It is unexpected, but what I’ve realized working in government is you have to adjust to things that are unexpected,” Guillory said. 

It’s an uncertain time for House interns, the cadre of college students who answer phones and help support congressional offices. Most are in Washington for only a few months, and a large chunk of that has already been eaten up by the shutdown. 

Unlike other congressional staff who work without pay during a lapse in appropriations, interns in the House don’t work at all, according to guidance from the House Administration Committee. In the Senate, offices are allowed to designate interns as excepted staff who can continue to show up without a paycheck.

That’s left interns, accustomed to working four or five days a week on the Hill, with some holes in their schedule.

Jimmy Ellis is director of academic and student services for UCDC, a program that brings students from the University of California’s campuses to Washington. He said approximately 25 percent of its 200 students this fall are interning in congressional offices. 

The program has a contingency plan in place for what to do if the government shuts down, which includes adding programming and taking advantage of alumni in the area. Ellis recognizes that it doesn’t fully replace what the students might be missing. 

“There’s no way that we could fill, one for one, what they’re missing from their internship,” he said. 

UCLA senior Victoria Serragiotto, who’s interning in California Democratic Rep. George Whitesides’ office, is also here with UCDC. After starting her work at the end of September, the government shut down a week and a half later, with her internship alongside it. 

“We’re already more than halfway through the program, and a lot of us haven’t been working at all, so that kind of sucks,” she said.

Offices bear the brunt

Congressional offices are starting to feel the lack of interns too. 

“In an ideal world, more hands would be great, because everyone is working without a paycheck right now and we could use the extra set of hands. But I understand we don’t want to exploit interns,” Maryland Democratic Rep. Sarah Elfreth said.  

Elfreth knows the impact that a congressional internship can have for jump-starting a career and fueling interest in public service. In 2011, she interned for Rep. Steny Hoyer, then the minority whip. Elfreth’s office has been seeing an uptick in casework and constituent calls — her district has more than 40,000 federal employees. 

Danielle Stewart, adviser for congressional initiatives at POPVOX Foundation, said for House offices, interns being furloughed has a ripple effect in a shutdown. 

“It is all hands on deck without two to three to four or five extra people in the office. They provide invaluable support to front office staff,” she said. “And the days where you don’t have that support, even on a regular week, yes, everyone has to answer the phones.” 

It can trickle down to congressional casework as well. 

“We’ve got a lot of constituents asking questions, and the staff are the ones on the front lines answering those questions for their constituents, for their districts,” she said. 

Mark Basta, a senior at UC Berkeley and intern in a House Republican office, said he and other students from the UCDC program with internships on pause have started commiserating.

“Our big thing now is just making food and just sitting at the table every time we eat different meals and complaining about the shutdown. And these have been much more frequent,” he said. 

Basta is in a unique position: He’s also a fellow for international religious freedom in the office where he’s interning, he said, and has been allowed to work on projects strictly related to his fellowship. After dreaming of experiencing Capitol Hill since his freshman year, he said it’s not quite what he had planned. 

Ronald Phillips, who leads Texas Tech’s Government and Public Service Internship Program, said the school has altered the program for its 16 House interns, who arrived in mid-August and are set to leave D.C. in December.

They’re filling the gap with guest speakers and networking lunches and by encouraging the students to explore D.C. and other nearby landmarks. 

“They are trying to make the most of the experience that they have. But it is different, no doubt,” Phillips said.

Guillory, for one, describes her experience positively. Shutdown aside, it’s not as though she’s confined to university housing. 

She’s been setting up coffees and connecting with Hill staffers. She joined the Congressional Black Associates, a bipartisan congressional staff association. Still, she hopes the shutdown ends soon so she can maximize the rest of her time before returning to Texas.

“I can’t wait to go back to working, honestly, because it was so amazing,” Guillory said.