Keepers of the U.S. Code: the Case for a Congressional Clerkship Program

Abstract

Under the Constitution, Congress drives the federal lawmaking process. Yet every year our best new lawyers focus their competitive energies not on jobs with the nation’s legislature but rather on judicial clerkships and other prestigious apprenticeships with executive agencies, law firms, and academe. Congress should be concerned. But it needs to understand that this demand deficit has grown from a supply problem. Unlike the courts, agencies, firms, and academe, Congress lacks an apprenticeship program to capture the interest, harness the abilities, and shape the minds of the law’s young elite. Legislation passed by the House is a terrific starting point for a successful congressional clerkship program.