Senate Page Program

U.S. Senate Page Program Nominations

Pages play a critical role in the day-to-day work of the U.S. Senate. The first page to serve in the Senate was the nine-year-old son of the Sergeant at Arms. Senator Daniel Webster appointed him in 1829, and the pages that followed in his footsteps have served the Senate ever since.

Today, Senate pages come from all 50 states. Still appointed and sponsored by a senator, they must be entering junior or senior year (for summer sessions) in high school, sixteen to seventeen years old, and attend school. Senate page duties consist primarily of delivery of correspondence and legislative material within the Congressional complex on Capitol Hill. Other duties include preparing the chamber for Senate sessions, and delivering bills and amendments to various clerks, assistants, and other support staff in the Senate. Pages are paid a stipend, and deductions are taken for taxes and resident hall fees, which includes a meal plan. Pages must pay their transportation costs to Washington, D.C.

While serving in Washington, pages live in the Senate Page Dormitory located just a few blocks from the Capitol. Senate pages attend classes in the early morning that cover typical junior year subjects such as mathematics, English, and social studies. The United States Senate Page School is fully accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. Additionally, a Field Studies program also ensures that pages are exposed to many of the educational and cultural activities that Washington, D.C. has to offer.

There are four regularly occurring page sessions:

• • Fall semester from early September to mid-January;

• • Spring semester from mid-January to mid-June; and

• • Two summer sessions, one in June and July, and the other in July and August.

The office of the Senate Sergeant at Arms administers and supervises the page program. Senators have the privilege of nominating pages for appointment. The selection process is very competitive due to a large number of applications for only thirty page positions.

For more information, please review the U.S. Senate’s website on the page program or call Senator Merkley’s D.C. office.

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How to Apply for a Nomination

Applications for the Fall 2024 session are due no later than June 3, 2024 at 11:59 pm PT. Click HERE to access the online application. 

To be eligible to serve as a Fall 2024 Senate page, you must be:

• • Must be a Junior for the 2024-2025 school year;

• • Between the ages of sixteen and eighteen years old on the date of appointment (the date the page session starts);

• • A U.S. Citizen; and

• • Able to maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher.

To complete your application, please complete the online application and submit these items to the nomination portal HERE by the June 3, 2024 deadline:

• • An official copy of your high school transcript(s);

• • A current resume;

• • A cover letter explaining why you wish to be a Senate page;

• • A letter of recommendation from one of your teachers;

• • A letter of recommendation from a supervisor familiar with your work on a job or in volunteer service;

• • A short essay (250 to 500 words) responding to the question, “Describe one major problem that the United States is currently facing and – if you were a U.S. Senator from Oregon – how you would try to fix that problem;”

For any questions or for further assistance with the page application process, please contact Senator Merkley’s office at 202-224-3753.

Senator Merkley’s Online Page Program Nomination Application Portal