Brianna Feifer '26

Hello! My name is Brianna Feifer and I am a rising junior majoring in political science. This summer I had the opportunity to work two internships, one as a congressional intern in the U.S. House of Representatives, and the other as a clerk for the State’s Attorney’s Office for Frederick County, Maryland.

As a congressional intern, I got experience working at both levels of government: local and federal. I worked at the district office in Frederick, Maryland, and occasionally at the D.C. office. On a daily basis, I primarily assisted constituents in navigating government agencies, responded to legislative opinions, and advocated on behalf of constituents to various agencies, such as local social security field offices.

I was fortunate to attend various events outside of the office, such as a congressional briefing at the FBI Baltimore field office and the Pride festival in Frederick, where I promoted our constituent services. The highlight of my summer was attending the Rally for Reproductive Freedom. Both Vice President Kamala Harris and Alexis Johnson, the president of Planned Parenthood, were among an array of decorated, well-established leaders that spoke at the rally.

At the State’s Attorney’s Office, I was assigned to intern for the Chief Justice of the narcotics unit, Colleen Swanson. I often observed court, with cases ranging from domestic violence to narcotic distribution.  I sat in on a variety of meetings with investigators, victims families, and chamber meetings with judges. Additionally, I did legal research, drafted contracts, listened to jail calls, reviewed discovery, and even got to assist an attorney in preparing for a trial by jury!

My highlight of this internship was attending Drug Treatment Court (DTC) every Thursday. This is a program in which sentencing is postponed in an effort for participants to build a healthy, sober life. DTC is composed of a team of social workers, attorneys, and a judge that work to find treatment resources for participants. DTC has an all star board with three phases, and if the program is completed, there is a graduation ceremony. It was fulfilling to watch the DTC staff thoroughly invest into the participants' lives, and, even more so fulfilling, when a participant would successfully buy-in to the program, graduate, and turn their life around.

I want to sincerely thank the CCPA and the Kevin R. Jones fund for allowing me to pursue my passions in law, social justice, and public policy this summer. This funding allowed me to build a professional foundation and network for my future, for which I am particularly grateful.