AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Every year, thousands of young people flock to Capitol Hill to work as congressional interns.
JORDAN CHANTHA: It was a new feeling I never felt before. I got to be a part of something that was meaningful.
CHANG: That is Jordan Chantha. He's an intern at the office of Representative Seth Moulton, a Democrat from Massachusetts. But now, along with some 700,000 other federal workers, Chantha is furloughed. Fellow furloughed intern Addison Harold works for representative Jen Kiggans, a Republican from Virginia.
ADDISON HAROLD: I am missing out so much on experience that I could be having.
CHANG: This feeling that an opportunity they all worked so hard to get is slipping away now, it rings so true for Henry Jones. He interns for representative Ayanna Pressley, a Democrat from Massachusetts.
HENRY JONES: I haven't gotten asked to turn in my House ID yet, but I'm sure that's coming eventually. It's disheartening. It really is.
CHANG: An internship on Capitol Hill was also a dream job for Katherine Russo. She's a graduate student in American history at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. She has been furloughed from the office of Representative Deborah Ross, a Democrat from North Carolina. Russo came into our studio in Washington, D.C., yesterday, and I started by asking her, how is she spending all her free time these days?
KATHERINE RUSSO: Well, you know, unfortunately, the amount of things that we can do is a little bit limited. Obviously, the amount of money we have, like, we call it fun money. I don't have a lot of that right now.
CHANG: Yeah.
RUSSO: So, like, honestly, a lot of it has been making changes to resumes. It's been reaching out to different employment opportunities.
CHANG: By the way, can I ask how much were you getting paid? Was it even enough to live on in D.C.?
RUSSO: If I can be candid, no. I have been receiving assistance from my parents, who have been very generous. We had to sell my car back home, actually, just kind of to give me...
CHANG: Wow.
RUSSO: ...A cushion to make sure that I can make it through this period of unemployment because I don't know when I'm going to see my next paycheck.
CHANG: You sold your car as a result of the government shutdown?
RUSSO: I was going to sell my car, probably. It became more urgent to sell the car once I realized that I did not know when I was going to see money again.
CHANG: My goodness. OK, so besides not having a car, how else are you thinking about your financial uncertainty? Because life will resume after the government shutdown, during the government shutdown. What is that life going to look like?
RUSSO: I have had to make myself comfortable with the idea of relying on food banks, which is something that I have never had to do. I've been fortunate growing up. My family never had to do that. But I'm coming to terms with the fact that at a certain point, I'm going to have to because there's no end in sight for this.
CHANG: Right.
RUSSO: Yeah.
CHANG: Tell me, were you - are you still interested in working on Capitol Hill or doing a job related to politics or policy in the future, given this experience you've had?
RUSSO: I - actually, this has kind of galvanized me.
CHANG: Really?
RUSSO: Yes, absolutely.
CHANG: Tell me how.
RUSSO: Well, I think that when you believe in an institution in the way that I believe in our federal legislature and you see it not working, like, the thing that you want to do is help, or at least that's what I want to do. I want to make sure that this is an institution that runs as it should. And I think that that is something that really, really motivates me to do the work that I want to do one day.
CHANG: God (ph).
RUSSO: So if anything, I'm in this for the long haul.
CHANG: If a government shutdown does not crush your idealism, Katherine, I don't know what would. Hang in there.
RUSSO: Thank you so much.
CHANG: That was Katherine Russo, who is furloughed from her internship with representative Deborah Ross of North Carolina. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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