Government Offering High-Paid Internships Despite Sequester

Even as President Obama inflames fears of a government shutdown because of cuts from sequestration, the federal government is still offering a myriad of high-paid internships.

A search by Fox News of the federal employment site found 84 new internships and student programs that had been posted in the last 10 days.

For example, the U.S. Department of Agriculture warned meat producers that inspections would have to be halted due to sequestration; even as the department threatens to shut down food production, it is listing 12 new openings.

One Department of Agriculture opening is offering $24.16 per hour. Additionally, many of these government internships require nothing more than a middling GPA or one year of college experience.

A NASA program, in contrast, would offer a starting pay of $83,126 per year for doctoral candidates, but many of the jobs at NASA only require a applicants have a “B” average, one year of college experience, and that they are looking to finish a degree.

Some other high-paid internships include a position at the The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration paying $31,315 to $62,678 and an internship at the Department of Health and Human Services worth $61,000 per year.

In fact, thousands of government jobs are still going up on the jobs site despite the sequester cuts.

“On a broader scale, there were more than 2,700 federal jobs posted in the past 10 days across a variety of agencies,” Fox News’ Barnini Chakraborty wrote. “This includes 327 jobs at the Department of Agriculture, 149 in the Department of Health and Human Services and 140 at the Department of the Interior. NASA has 23 openings.”