The federal hiring freeze is limiting the number of internship and job opportunities available to Washington and Lee students, creating uncertainty as summer approaches.
The executive order calling for the freeze was signed by President Donald Trump on Inauguration Day. It prohibits agencies and departments within the executive branch — ranging from the Department of Justice to the IRS — from hiring new federal employees. No position that was vacant on Jan. 20 can be filled, and no new positions can be created, with some exceptions, according to the executive order.
The freeze erases a variety of job openings that seniors in the Williams School often eye for post-graduation plans, said Brian Alexander, associate professor of politics. It has also made current federal employees unsure of if they can bring undergraduates on board as interns.
“Whenever there’s uncertainty in Washington, people are more hesitant to make all kinds of decisions,” Alexander said. “So the uncertainty affects every part of the [internship] search process.”
The freeze is set to last until the end of April while the directors of the Department of Government Efficiency and other government officials prepare a plan to reduce the size of the federal workforce, according to Forbes Magazine. In the meantime, Alexander says, seniors who want to be civil servants should look beyond executive agencies for job opportunities.
Students enrolled in Alexander’s Washington Term class also need to get creative, he said. Over six weeks in May and June, Washington Term students live in the nation’s capital to take a class with Alexander, attend guest lectures, meet with alumni and work as interns. Students can hold internships on Capitol Hill, in various lobbying organizations, and in any other place “where politics happen,” according to the Williams School’s website.
Finding a Washington Term internship has always been a difficult process, Alexander said, as government agencies have limited openings for scores of talented undergraduates interested in a career in politics. But this year is presenting unique challenges, he said.
Some Washington Term students, such as Grace Rustay, ’27, know that all too well. In the span of two weeks after Trump’s inauguration, Rustay said she watched six internship opportunities disappear — she was in the final interview stages for four of them and had formal offers for two when all of the positions were frozen. Every opportunity was either part of the federal government or at an organization that provides services to the federal government, she said.
“There’s a lot of instability,” Rustay said. “Those folks didn’t feel comfortable offering internships because they just learned that they don’t even have their own job security.”
Rustay has felt the unease from government officials since early November, she said, when people started processing what a new administration could mean for their workplaces. In networking calls since then, she said, she’s had numerous federal employees ask her if Washington and Lee was hiring — the opposite conversation of what cold-callers like Rustay hope for.
But overall, Rustay said the initial chaos of her internship search has had hidden benefits.
“I’m actually really grateful that [Washington Term] is coming right now during such a crazy time in the federal government, because it’s training us on being able to think on the spot,” she said. “I feel like, if I can figure out getting an internship now, then I can probably figure it out at any time.”
Alexander said Washington Term students are successfully finding internships, even if the process takes a little more work and patience than normal.
“My advice is: ‘continue to try.’ You just have to cast a wider net now,” he said.
The best thing students affected by the hiring freeze can do is remain professional — especially in communications with potential employers and social media posts — and maintain hope, said Lorri Olan, the senior associate director of W&L’s Office of Career and Professional Development (CPD).
“Unfortunately, change is inevitable and offers of employment may be rescinded – not just those in the federal government,” she wrote in an email to the Ring-tum Phi. “Stay resilient and keep your frustrations and negativity in check.”
The hiring freeze can affect students who aren’t considering careers in politics, too, Olan said. For example, she said, the National Parks Service is included in the category of agencies that must follow the hiring freeze. While clearing trails and educating park guests are not “political” roles, they are still part of a federal agency, she said.
In fact, most federal employees don’t work in political roles. Medical and public health occupations represent the highest proportion of the federal civilian workforce, followed by administrative and clerical positions, according to March 2024 data from the Pew Research Center.
Olan, who specializes in advising students interested in politics, said students should keep in mind that the judicial and legislative branches of government, which include congressional and senate offices, are not impacted by the hiring freeze. She advises students interested in working on the Hill to keep networking, fine-tuning application materials and signing up for alerts about job openings.
The federal hiring freeze also does not impact state and local governments or social service organizations, she said. CPD’s career advisors and fellows, along with online resources such as the Partnership for Public Service, can be helpful tools for students wanting to adapt their plans.
“Expand your job search strategy, be open to adjacent opportunities and keep building your professional network,” Olan said.
Professor of Economics Art Goldsmith agreed, saying it’s natural for students to question their career path and seek other opportunities given the current situation.
“Students who want to engage in public sector work are going to be asking themselves, ‘Is this the career path I want to take? Will it be stable? Will it be rewarding?’” he said. “Which I think, at this point, we just don’t know.”
Part of the uncertainty stems from the fact that the federal workforce has never been reduced in the ways that Trump is calling for, said Goldsmith, who combines insights from economics, sociology and history to research questions regarding wages and employment.
“We don’t know how consequential this will be because we haven’t tested that hypothesis before. We haven’t done anything of this magnitude before, and it’s rolling out very quickly,” Goldsmith said.
Goldsmith added that his biggest concern is that the federal workforce’s downsizing will not only hurt potential employees but also the people who rely on government services such as Social Security and Medicaid. With a smaller federal workforce, those programs will likely lose overall efficiency and quality, he said.
Rustay said, despite the uncertainty, she’s remaining positive — largely due to the support she has from alumni, Alexander and her fellow Washington Term peers. She said she’s been thankful to celebrate and find inspiration in her friends’ successes, which have taken the form of internships on the Hill and in various nonprofits unaffected by the hiring freeze.
“We need to keep our minds open, because there are so many wonderful opportunities out there,” she said. “We just have to be brave enough to look.”
