Just last year alone, nearly 75% of the House of Representatives was reimbursed to the tune of more than $5 million on food and lodging expenses incurred while conducting official business. But an anti-corruption watchdog group is sounding the alarm over the system's lack of transparency.
The Washington Post reported Tuesday that a program the House rolled out last year with bipartisan support to allow lawmakers to submit expenses for reimbursement without having to provide receipts has already been used by 319 members (153 Democrats and 166 Republicans). The program effectively recognizes the "dual duty station" of lawmakers, in that they have to carry out official duties and incur expenses both in their home districts and in Washington, DC, and allows them to be reimbursed with discretionary money used to spend on their own office expenses. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) ranked at the top of the list for reimbursements, getting more than $40,000 back last year for money spent on food and lodging.
Craig Holman — a lobbyist for the non-partisan government transparency group Public Citizen — argued that the new program's "ridiculous loophole" of allowing lawmakers to use the honor system is an open invitation for abuse.
READ MORE: 'Matt sent this to me, and you're missing out': Gaetz allegedly showed nude pics to colleagues
"Clearly it becomes very difficult to tell whether or not it’s a legitimate payment and whether it’s proper," Holman told the Post.
When the program was first rolled out, rules stipulated that the reimbursements couldn't cover mortgage payments, and can only be used for smaller costs like insurance, taxes, maintenance and utility costs. Cassie Baloue, a spokesperson for Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-California) — who bought a 3,000 square foot, $1.2 million home in the northeast quadrant of Washington, DC in 2020 — defended the lawmaker's reimbursements of roughly $19,000 over the course of 2023. She insisted his expenses submitted "reflect the actual cost of working in DC and are signed off by House Administration."
In a statement to the Post, a spokesperson for Gaetz defended the Florida Republican's 2023 expenses, asserting that even though he submitted expense reports on days Congress was not in session, the reimbursements were necessary given the work he conducted in his capacity as a member of the House's Select Committee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government.
"Rep. Gaetz has always complied with House rules regarding congressional reimbursements," the spokesperson said. "In 2023, Rep. Gaetz dedicated significant time to his work on the Weaponization Subcommittee, requiring his presence to be in Washington, D.C., on days often when there were no votes, which incurred additional reimbursement expenses to conduct depositions."
READ MORE: Jon Stewart blasts 'dumbest thing' about 'cartoonishly corrupt' senator's alleged crimes
The program was initially set up to help lawmakers offset the costs of having to simultaneously maintain two residences — one in the nation's capital and one in their home districts — as many members of Congress opted to sleep in their offices and bathe in government buildings. Former Rep. Gregg Harper (R-Mississippi), who used to chair the House Administration Committee, told Politico last year that he still couldn't afford DC's sky-high rents even on his $174,000 Congressional salary.
"My view has always been that you shouldn’t have to be independently wealthy to serve in the United States House of Representatives," Harper said.
Additionally, Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Florida), who is the youngest member of the House of Representatives at age 26, said $174,000 still wasn't enough to even rent an apartment. He added that a prospective landlord was unmoved when Frost showed documentation proving that he was a member of the House.
"Just applied to an apartment in DC where I told the guy that my credit was really bad. He said I’d be fine. Got denied, lost the apartment, and the application fee,” Frost tweeted a month after he was elected. “This ain’t meant for people who don’t already have money.”