On day one of my summer clerk internship with the Democrats on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, I got a tour of the staff's Rayburn office. It was fairly standard and not unlike the office in which I interned for my congressman my freshman year. A receptionist sat behind a desk in the entrance area. Walking through the small complex, I introduced myself to a few other staff members. My tour guide then opened up a nondescript door to what I thought was just another section of the office. I walked through and let out a gasp.
I was standing a few feet behind 40 members of Congress as dozens of reporters with cameras stared at me. The witnesses, the General Counsel for the New York Times and CBS Evening News Anchor, Sharyl Attkisson, glanced at me too after my unfortunate audible reaction. The Committee was holding a hearing to investigate federal agency compliance with Freedom of Information Act Requests. Ranking member Elijah Cummings, a civil rights icon from Baltimore (and my new boss), spoke powerfully into the microphone.
“FOIA is the cornerstone of our open government laws and it has been used by countless journalists, watchdog groups, and citizens to obtain information about their government and its actions," he said. "Congress cannot continue to slash agency budgets, starve them for resources, and cut their staffs, all while expecting them to tackle the increasing number of FOIA requests that are now at an all-time, historic high."
For the next three months, I was tasked with writing Rep. Cummings' opening statements and lines of questioning for hearings on FOIA and many other issues under the committee's government-wide investigative jurisdiction. The pressure of doing this on a regular basis was very similar to writing for a news anchor's teleprompter for a live, national broadcast. This is a skill I developed in SMPA Professor Stuart Powell's News Writing and Reporting class at GW. I have him and SMPA to thank for my ability to handle my responsibilities at Oversight.
The FOIA hearings continued in light of the growing backlog of requests from journalists to have their legally guaranteed right to transparency granted. I assisted our legal team with this and many other investigations, including Secret Service failures, prescription drug price spikes and the necessity of criminal justice reform. Thankfully, my investigation into the Freedom of Information Act won't end with my internship. This fall, I am very excited to be taking Media Law with SMPA Professor Michele Kimball!
The Committee was also deeply involved with the 2016 presidential race. I spent much of my time helping the media team of the Select Committee on Benghazi, a Republican offshoot of Oversight now investigating Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server. I helped correct the record and distinguish honest investigation from political charade. I scanned media coverage to find inconsistencies in Chairman Trey Gowdy's constantly changing justification for the investigation and helped craft our strategy ahead of Secretary Clinton's October testimony before the Committee.
In the end, I realized that my internship this summer was successful and enriching because I am an SMPA student. I was able to use skills I learned in class and put them to use on Capitol Hill. Above all, interning for the Committee underscored my belief that the court of law and the court of public opinion are inextricably linked. This semester, my experience with the committee will never be far from my mind as I learn about how media and communication shape and determine public policy at the highest levels of government.