The Joint Committee on Taxation

This fall, I have been working at Congress's Joint Committee on Taxation. The Joint Committee is a nonpartisan committee that provides tax advice to both the House and the Senate. It has been a wonderful experience for me to see the process of making tax law. Tom Barthold, above, is the Chief of Staff of our committee and is an incredibly smart economist who is extremely knowledgeable about the tax code. He also happens to be a really nice guy, and it has been fun to work with him and others on the committee staff. It is a very collegial bunch.

Each fall, NYU sends a J.D./LL.M. joint degree student to work at the committee, and this year I was awarded that tax policy fellowship. In January, I will return to NYU to finish the final semester of my LL.M. (Master of Laws) degree in taxation.

Here is my daily journey to work. I first take the Metro to the Capitol South stop.

That puts me on Capitol Hill.

While Congress debates and votes in the Capitol, most of the work happens in the office buildings adjacent to the Capitol. The Congressmen have their offices in three office buildings south of the Capitol and the Senators have their offices in three office buildings north of the Capitol. Although our committee has offices on both the House and the Senate sides, my particular office is on the House side, in the Longworth House Office Building.

1620 Longworth, to be exact.

And this is my desk. I share a large office with three other people. And yes, when I'm at my desk I am sitting in a doorway that has been turned into a closet. They call this "the intern desk" since it is probably the worst place to sit in any of the committee's offices. But I don't mind. The chance to work in such an incredible institution has definitely been worth it.