For the first time in history, White House interns will be compensated for their job, according to the Biden administration.
Starting this fall, students accepted into the White House internship program will be paid $750 a week for the duration of the 14-week program.
The $10,500 is split in half at the start and end of the program, however students who don’t finish are responsible for the cost of their unfinished time.
It comes as discussions about making internships more accessible through reimbursement have gained traction in recent years in Washington, particularly on Capitol Hill, as well as around the country.
Funding comes from the massive $1.5 trillion spending bill that passed the Senate in March, which also included defense dollars for Ukraine and considerable bumps in national security and domestic spending.
The bipartisan legislation had allocated $4.5 million to kickstart the White House and Executive Office internship program.
‘Too often, unpaid federal internships have been a barrier to hardworking and talented students and professionals, preventing them from contributing their talents and skills to the country and holding them back from federal career advancement opportunities,’ the White House said in a statement.
‘This significant milestone of paying White House interns will help remove barriers to equal opportunity for low-income students and first-generation professionals at the beginnings of their careers.’
And it would ‘help to ensure that those who receive internships at the White House—and who will be a significant part of the leadership pipeline across the entire federal government—reflect the diversity of America.’
Pay Our Interns co-founder and executive director Carlos Mark Vera told DailyMail.com that his advocacy group is ‘over the moon’ with Thursday’s announcement.
‘It’s been the build-up of a two year campaign,’ Vera said. ‘That’s a part that I think is really important to stress, this just didn’t happen overnight.’
He stated: ‘Pay Our Interns is proud to have led this fight and we want to continue this by ensuring other federal agencies and other sectors also follow suit and pay their interns.’
Pay Our Interns had send now-President Joe Biden’s and Vice President Kamala Harris’ transition team a letter signed by more than 250 former White House interns dating back to George H.W. Bush’s administration to urge them to act.
The group had been a driving force behind the push to pay interns in Congress and other branches of government, including successfully lobbying for paid State Department internships beginning this year.
Vera told the president: ‘Young people, especially young voters of color, voted for you overwhelmingly, and I think that you could set a new tone and send a strong message by being the first administration ever to pay White House interns
He added that the program was ‘well thought out’ given the time constraints – the funds had been approved in mid-March and applications are set to open on Monday, June 6.
Vera himself was part of the prestigious program, as were numerous power players in today’s politics.
Senior Biden adviser Anita Dunn had been a White House intern, as well as Barack Obama’s Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro, Hillary Clinton’s longtime aide Huma Abedin, Fox News anchor Neil Cavuto and Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, among others.
The fight for workers’ rights in the nation’s capital has also taken form as a push for better employment conditions for Capitol Hill staff.
Earlier this month, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for the first time in history announced a minimum annual salary for Congressional staffers.
Aides are now being paid at least $45,000. The California Democrat also raised the payment cap to $203,700 from $199,300.
The House of Representatives also voted in May to allow staffers to form a union, which would be the first such collective bargaining agreement on Capitol Hill.