Budget and Entitlement Policy Research Intern

To be considered for this role, you must apply directly through our online application. 

Overview

The Budget and Entitlement Policy team analyzes federal spending, increasing debt, and the long-term fiscal outlook of Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and the budget process. 

Romina Boccia and Dominik Lett produce policy analyses, op-eds, data briefs, congressional testimony, and Hill briefings on fiscal reform — recent work covers Social Security solvency and benefit structures, emergency spending and rescissions, Medicaid funding mechanics, and SNAP policy. Their research reaches policymakers, major news outlets, and the public through regular congressional engagement and media commentary. 

Interns contribute directly to this work by supporting scholars with research and data tasks that feed into published analyses, media engagement, and congressional events.

Responsibilities

• Pull, reconcile, and analyze fiscal data from CBO, OMB Historical Tables, Treasury, SSA, CMS, BEA, BLS, and FRED; create clearly labeled, reproducible charts and tables for use in published work.
• Draft background research memos and literature reviews on program structures, policy proposals, and reform models as assigned — outputs are directly used by scholars.
• Prepare agenda materials and supporting research for Hill briefings and panel discussions.
• Monitor federal and state legislative updates related to the team's research goals, and provide clear, concise summaries.
• Verify facts, cite sources, and edit policy analyses, op-eds, and blog posts.
• Analyze third-party fiscal models and external research — including CBO long-term outlooks, actuarial reports, and academic literature — and summarize findings for scholars.

Required Qualifications

• Demonstrated knowledge of and interest in US budget and entitlement policy — including Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and federal spending and tax issues — grounded in and aligned with Cato's principles of individual liberty, limited government, free markets, and peace.
• Strong background in economics or public finance, with the ability to clearly explain program mechanics, incentives, and fiscal tradeoffs for policy audiences.
• Experience writing about public policy with clear claims and accurate citations from primary sources like CBO, OMB, SSA, and CMS reports.
• Proficient understanding of CBO, OMB Historical Tables, Treasury, SSA, CMS, BEA, BLS, and FRED — including correct management of units, deflators, fiscal versus calendar year distinctions, and per-capita adjustments.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel, including filters, sorting, XLOOKUP or INDEX-MATCH, and PivotTables.
• Professionalism, reliability, and attention to detail — data projects require careful troubleshooting, and accuracy in both analysis and written output is essential.

Preferred Qualifications

• Previous professional or academic research experience in federal budget policy, entitlement reform, or a related area of fiscal policy through a research assistantship, policy organization internship, published or submitted paper, or independent project with verifiable results
• Familiarity with current Social Security and Medicare reform debates, including solvency projections, benefit formula mechanics, COLA indexing, and international models; applicants are encouraged to review the team's recently published work before applying.
• Experience in R, Python, Stata, or SQL for data analysis or visualization.

Finalists may be asked to submit a writing sample demonstrating analytical engagement with a fiscal or economic policy topic and to complete a brief technical exercise assessing Excel proficiency.

The Cato Internship Program

Cato’s paid internships are available for undergraduates, recent graduates, graduate students, law students, and early-career professionals who are strongly committed to individual liberty, limited government, free markets, and peace—principles that together form libertarianism, also known as “classical liberalism,” “market liberalism,” or, to many of our international friends, simply “liberalism.” 

All Cato interns participate in the same intensive seminar series, which covers a wide range of history, philosophy, policy, and professional development topics. Interns also assist with events and occasionally support Cato staff with other daily tasks. 

Interns receive competitive pay. Part-time roles are adjusted accordingly and require a minimum of 25 hours per week. Program participants must be able to attend in person in Washington, D.C.  

For more information about the internship program and experience, we encourage you to explore our website. If you have any questions, email studentprograms@cato.org.