Congresswoman-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will reportedly pay interns she hires a minimum of $15 per hour, unlike most Republican and even more Democratic representatives.
Ocasio-Cortez’s chief of staff Saikat Chakrabarti confirmed to The Washington Post that the democratic socialist taking her House seat in January will pay “at least” $15 hourly to her interns.
That would be a huge gesture considering a study by Pay Our Interns last year found that only 3.6 percent of interns for House Democrats were paid and 8 percent of interns for House Republicans were compensated. Senators offered more paid internships but the percentages weren’t great either—31 percent of Democrats and 51 percent of Republicans.