Congressional fellowships

Last updated

31st October 2023

Policy fellowships involve temporary (typically one-year) placements in a policy institution like Congress. They generally require several years of work experience and/or an advanced degree (though, confusingly, some offices also have short-term unpaid “fellows” who are essentially interns). Fellowship programs are run by outside organizations, who pay fellows’ salaries and help match them with congressional offices. Specific examples of fellowship programs are listed below.

Type of work: Congressional fellows are supposed to do work at roughly the level of a legislative Assistant (if they are in a personal office) or Professional Staff Member (in a committee office). Early in the fellowship, most fellows’ time will be spent shadowing experienced staff to learn the ropes, or assisting with ad hoc tasks such as research. Later on, if a fellow manages to win their office’s trust, they will be given more responsibility. (This can be hit-or-miss: some fellows prove a poor fit and/or are not properly trained by their offices, leading them to have a bad experience.)

For examples, see the AAAS STPF Legislative Fellowship “Fellow Stories” and the IEEE-USA Congressional Fellow testimonials (example #1, example #2).

Motivation: The main reason to do a fellowship is to gain experience and a Hill network, both of which help you land a regular congressional role. You may also decide the Hill is not for you, or you may be unable to land a regular Hill job. But even then, congressional experience can be very helpful for getting other policy-related jobs in or around government. Because much of your first year on the Hill will involve learning the ropes, it is unlikely (though far from impossible) for fellows to have much counterfactual direct impact during their placement.

Picking a host office: Because their salaries are paid by other organizations, fellows are free to congressional offices, and are therefore generally in high demand. For example, on average, TechCongress fellows receive placement offers from more than 7 offices, and they pick which offer to accept. If you manage to secure a fellowship, you can typically be a little more choosy. (That’s a big “if” though: most of these fellowships are highly selective.)

Examples of congressional fellowships

Fellowships are run by a variety of organizations. Eligibility, compensation, work focus, and duration depend on the specific fellowship. (In some cases, it’s also possible to “self-sponsor” a fellowship by bringing your own funding from external scholarships or grants, so long as your funding source(s) comply with conflict-of-interest and other ethics rules. However, self-sponsored fellowships are quite rare and generally not recommended unless you have significant DC experience; placement assistance and extensive training are important parts of organizational fellowship programs.)

We’re not aware of any comprehensive list of congressional fellowships online, but we list several below and encourage you to check out databases like these. You might also have success by googling your own professional and/or demographic group(s) + “Congressional fellowship.”

There’s a list of fellowship programs here, which are omitted from this narration.

Horizon Fellowship: A 6-24 month full-time US emerging technology policy fellowship—focusing on AI policy and biosecurity policy—providing job placements in the US Congress, executive branch, or think tanks for early- and mid-career individuals. (Note that both the Horizon Fellowship and this website are projects of the Horizon Institute for Public Service.)
AAAS Legislative Branch Fellowship and its >30 partner societies: A 1-year full-time congressional or executive branch fellowship for STEM PhD graduates.
1. AAAS partner organizations offer fellowships for many groups of scientists, such as mathematicians, mechanical engineers, chemists, physicists, psychologists, etc.
TechCongress Congressional Innovation Fellowship: A 10-12 month full-time Congressional fellowship focused on technology policy for early- and mid-career individuals.
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Fellowship: A 1-year full-time congressional or executive branch fellowship for mid-career professionals focused on health and biosecurity policy.