These cases highlight the two major complaints about unpaid internships: First, that equal work deserves equal pay; and second, that unpaid internships exclude those of lower economic status. Reid won’t face the same legal consequences as Fox because Congress exempts itself from normal intern rules under the Congressional Accountability Act, but the story certainly ought to feed public ire over unpaid work on the Hill. Elected leaders’ positions on the issue are important. If there is going to be some sort of legislative change on what some liken to indentured servitude, it’s going to come from Congress.

To see where senators stand, one need look no further than how they operate their own internship programs. The answers, including who pays and who doesn’t, are a little surprising -- and for Democratic defenders of labor fairness, as well as spending-slashing Republicans, they send a warning.

Just seeing where senators keep the information on their internships is telling. While some list internship info under a “Student” tab, most put it in “Service” or “Constituent Service” sections. Bizarrely lumped in with items like flag requests, resources for homeowners, federal resources, and the obligatory “Coffee with Senator X,” internship opportunities are construed as a favor your elected official is doing for you. For example, you can find information on how to intern for Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat under the category of “Help From Joe.”

The argument that Senate offices, and employees nationwide for that matter, make is that the internship is exclusively for the benefit of the intern through educational experience. New Mexico Democrat Martin Heinrich’s website summarizes the sentiments of many offices when it states that “internships are available expressly for the purpose of furthering educational objectives." Others, like Illinois Republican Mark Kirk, are blunter, noting that the internship “provides invaluable resume-building experience.” No matter how it’s phrased, these senators echo the private-sector mantra that interns are gaining instead of giving during their employ. Even though each senator details the litany of services interns are expected to perform, it is somehow understood that a full-time internship is a gift to the student, not the other way around.

But with a full workload -- stacks of mail to open, constituent calls to answer, legislative research to do, and Capitol tours to give -- internships on the Hill offer students the opportunity to give … and give and give. For those around these offices, it seems clear that Senate offices could not operate as they do without their cohort of intern laborers. They constantly supplement and replace work that would be done by staff or legislative assistants -- or by no one at all.

A May column in Roll Call perhaps best exemplifies the use of interns. Titled “Maximizing Intern Contributions In Your Hill Office” the article is a primer on how to milk the most out of your free labor, particularly in today’s economy. As the author explains, “as a result of the budget cuts to congressional offices ... professional interns who contribute to the office’s productivity is not only desirable for congressional offices, it is now an absolute need.” Despite thinly veiled suggestions that congressional internships are purely educational, this sort of strategizing seems to point to another use.