As part of the Editing and Publishing Services unit, CBO’s editors help ensure that the agency’s reports, presentations, and other publications are clear and accessible to a broad audience. That audience includes Members of Congress, Congressional staff, researchers, journalists, and other members of the public, who look to CBO’s nonpartisan analyses to understand the effects of policy decisions on the federal budget and the economy. Projects cover issues related to the federal budget, including such topics as demographic changes, flooding risks, prescription drugs, and weapons systems. Editors handle a range of projects and work with economists, policy analysts, and other technical experts across the agency. In addition to copyediting and proofreading, editors routinely engage in substantive editing, which may include working with authors to reorganize drafts and rewrite portions of drafts. They also work with graphics editors to ensure that charts and graphs tell the story of the research. Editors have followed varied career paths to CBO, coming from academia, journalism, magazine publishing, nonprofits, government, and freelance editing. But they have in common the commitment to understanding complicated ideas—and the ability to convey those ideas in straightforward language.  

A bachelor's or advanced degree, preferably in journalism, English, communications, or another field within the humanities;

At least three years of professional experience in editing publications similar to those produced at CBO—that is, books, reports, magazine and journal articles, or other publications covering serious subjects in careful detail;

  

This entry-level position is limited to a three-year term but has the potential to transition to a permanent position. It could be ideal for people looking to launch a career in editing, policy, or journalism. Assistant editors are trained and mentored by a staff of veteran editors and graphics editors whose career paths include academia, journalism, magazine publishing, nonprofits, government, and freelance editing and design. Much of the work is done independently and involves communicating with colleagues via email and Microsoft Teams chats and meetings. But by working on-site two days a week, assistant editors have the opportunity to interact in person with economists and other experts across the agency, including a cohort of assistant analysts gaining work experience before pursuing postgraduate study.  

  

The Congressional Budget Office is a small nonpartisan agency that provides economic and budgetary analysis to the Congress. CBO’s Budget Analysis Division seeks an IT professional to maintain the division’s in-house desktop software applications. The programmer analyst works with the division’s lead IT programmer.

The following are among the wide-ranging responsibilities of the position:

·       Convert designs and specifications into forms, classes, modules, functions, report forms, database tables, database code, and new applications;

·       Test software changes and participate in systemwide testing before new releases;

·       Respond to inquiries regarding errors, problems, and questions about the division’s software applications; and

·       Comply with the division’s IT design and coding standards.

  

The Congressional Budget Office’s summer internship program provides an excellent opportunity for students to experience and observe the budget process and policymaking at the federal level. Most of CBO’s employees are in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, and the internships will ideally be conducted in a hybrid manner. The summer internship program runs from May 28, 2024, to August 2, 2024; there may be some flexibility in those dates.

All CBO summer internships require solid writing skills and the ability to communicate clearly and concisely. Familiarity with computer programming, statistics, econometrics, and other quantitative methods is required. Ideal candidates also have exceptional interpersonal and analytical skills. U.S. citizens are eligible for consideration, as are noncitizens who are permanent residents of the United States and seeking citizenship. 

Students must also: 

• Be enrolled as a current graduate student, have completed their undergraduate education during the 2023-2024 academic year, or expect to complete their undergraduate education during the 2024-2025 academic year.
• Have an undergraduate major in economics, data science, public policy, mathematics, computer science, or related field or be pursuing graduate study in such a field. (Those pursuing an MBA or JD will not be considered.) 
• Be proficient with at least one type of data analysis software, such as SAS, STATA, Python, or R.

  

CBO’s Labor, Income Security, and Long-Term Analysis Division is seeking a labor economist and an economist with an interest in demography, particularly immigration. As part of the division’s Long-Term Analysis Unit, the economists will conduct research and analysis on topics of interest to the Congress and contribute to the full range of the unit’s responsibilities. 

Applicants must have a Ph.D. in economics or a related field, or they must have a master’s degree and at least five years of relevant work experience.