Batman, Captain America and Monty Python apparently worked for the US government last year

With great intern power comes great responsibility.

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Patrick Holland

March 20, 2019 4:24 a.m. PT

2 min read

US-IRELAND-POLITICS — The President's annual economic report has a number of interns who have the names of superhero alter egos.
Nicholas Kamm / AFP/Getty Images

The 2019 Economic Report of the President lists many superhero alter egos as White House interns. Peter Parker, Bruce Wayne, Steve Rogers and even Aunt May are all included, as well as Monty Python member John Cleese and possibly the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch from Game of Thrones (it lists John Snow instead of Jon Snow).

screen-shot-2019-03-19-at-1-44-40-pm — The 2019 Economic Report for the President features a list of interns, many of which have similar names to characters from Marvel and DC Comics.
Screenshot by CNET

This isn't the first time characters with such fictional prestige have been interns according to the White House. The 2018 Economic Report of the President included Star Trek characters J.T. Kirk and J.L. Picard. (That's James Tiberius Kirk from Star Trek: The Original Series and Jean Luc Picard from Star Trek: The Next Generation.)

We spot-checked the 2017, 2016, 2015 and 2007 reports for superhero or famous interns but there were no obvious names.

screen-shot-2019-03-19-at-1-50-43-pm — 2018 Economic Report of the President includes characters from Star Trek.
Screenshot by CNET

We reached out to the White House to try and ascertain how this came about, but they have not yet responded to a request to comment. White House Council of Economic Advisers responded via Twitter claiming it was intentional.

Thank you for noticing, our interns are indeed super heroes! We’ve thought so all along, but we knew it'd take a little more to get them the attention they deserve. They have made significant contributions to the Economic Report of the President and do so every day at CEA.
— CEA (@WhiteHouseCEA) March 19, 2019

It might be someone on the White House staff trying to troll the public or the administration. It could also be a way to beef up the number of actual interns, or placeholder names for interns who didn't want to be named, although LinkedIn also lists some interns publicly. Another theory might be that those who refused to sign NDAs last month, as reported around the web, simply had their names removed in favor of more famous people.

First published 2:10 p.m. PT.
Updated 2:35 p.m. PT: Adds CEA response.