You can learn a lot about the federal government in school and everyday life, but in my experience, nothing beats being a part of it. I spent the first four months of 2026 in Washington, D.C., working and studying as an intern and student on Capitol Hill. They were the busiest four months of my life, but I have never learned more. Here’s what I still think about now that it’s been a little while.
When people think about Congress, they think about passing laws. What always accompanies laws, though, is money. If laws are the lumber that builds the structure of your house, money is the nails that hold the structure in place. When Congress passes a law – for example, one mandating healthcare reform – it must also appropriate funds to implement and enforce that law. That means funding healthcare programs, supporting the public servants who administer them, and providing the resources necessary to make reform a reality. A law without funds to back it up is like the wooden structure of a house without any nails to hold it together. Sure, you have what looks like a house, and you can tell people that you have a house, but you know that if you go to open the door, it’ll fall out of the wall.
Of course, there is never enough money to fund every program and idea. As a result, members of Congress must make difficult decisions about where federal funding should go. To complicate these decisions, members often must weigh the varying interests of their constituents, donors, party leadership, and maybe even the president against each other. Every decision is an impossible calculus designed to keep each of these interests happy while pursuing a unique (or not) policy agenda. In efforts to influence these decisions, people, businesses, associations, universities, and other groups meet with members of Congress to explain why their priorities deserve support. This process is known as lobbying. Lobbyists are those people who are paid by the interest holders to do the persuading.
While I was in Washington, D.C., I participated in Wisconsin Advocacy Day. Alongside 16 other UW–Madison students, I accompanied university faculty and alumni in meetings with every member of Wisconsin’s congressional delegation. We shared our experiences and explained why Congress should continue supporting the university and its programs. While efforts like these rarely change someone’s position entirely, they serve as important reminders to the members of the priorities and concerns that matter to their constituents.
At times, lobbying also serves as a vehicle for special interests to “remind” elected officials which organizations or individuals have supported their campaigns, reinforcing the significant and often detrimental role money can play in politics. Fortunately, lobbying is not limited to large organizations or wealthy donors. Constituents like you and me can also use it to remind elected officials who they work for and who will ultimately hold them accountable.
Our nation was founded on principles that hold representatives of the people accountable to the people that they represent. While the political landscape has changed significantly in our 250-year project, my time in D.C. showed me that these principles should, and still do, hold true – but only if we stand by them and make our voices heard.