Letter to Chair and Ranking Member of the Committee on House Administration - Omar and Jayapal Lead Lawmakers in Requesting House Make Interns Permanently Eligible for Telework

Letter

Dear Chair Lofgren and Ranking Member Davis:

In light of the COVID-19 emergency and the barriers it has added for students across the nation, we applaud the decision to make all paid House interns eligible to telework in the event of a disaster, pandemic or other emergency. This decision has been instrumental in many offices' continuity of operations while simultaneously expanding access to congressional internships. We respectfully request that you make paid interns permanently eligible for telework.
Non-emergency telework eligibility in the House paid internship program would allow offices to keep their internship programs open to many students historically denied access to congressional experience. The paid internship program seeks to make House internships "available to the broadest possible pool of candidates who have the ability and interest to serve." Allowing interns to serve remotely, including using House-issued devices, would ensure access to these internships for otherwise qualified candidates for whom the cost, time or physical requirements of moving to Washington, D.C. has been prohibitive.
We appreciate your efforts to increase funding and resources for House interns. As we work to make House internships more just and accessible to Black, Indigenous, and people of color, students with disability, first-generation students, and working-class students, we must actively work to increase the flexibility and resources behind the internship program. Removing the emergency circumstances requirement for intern telework would improve accessibility to help make our institution more reflective of the communities we were sent to serve in Congress.

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