Issa: White House unpaid internships are not fair

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) is questioning the logic behind the White House's unpaid internships and volunteer positions.

As the Obama administration gears up to fight private companies on those jobs, some of which the Department of Labor could soon declare illegal, Issa expressed concern over the weekend that the White House offers those positions without pay too.

The congressman tweeted on Saturday:

Will White House apply double standard to the private sector and to itself on unpaid internships? I've asked: http://bit.ly/bpX1lV @foxnews

"If the government can't do it, certainly it's not fair to ask the private sector to do it in this case," the congressman told Fox News in the article to which his tweet links.

His remarks arrive days after he sent a letter to the White House, asking federal officials to list how many unpaid positions they staff each year.

But Issa's concerns aside, unpaid internships are hardly new to the job-hunting world -- especially not the White House.

In fact, the White House's current webpage clearly specifies its internships are without pay. An archived version of the White House website under former President George W. Bush suggests federal officials sought to hire up to 300 interns a year, all unpaid.