Bergman, not Gaetz, is top spender under House reimbursement program: Analysis

The Hill ^ | 06/04/24 12:14 PM ET | Lauren Irwin

[Miami Rebel]

An analysis by The Washington Post has found that Rep. Jack Bergman (R-Mich.) was the top spender last year under the House’s new reimbursement program.

The reimbursement program, passed last year by a House panel, allows members to be reimbursed for expenses from living both in their home districts and in Washington. More than 300 members were reimbursed at least $5.2 million in 2023, the Post analysis found.

The taxpayer-funded program gives back money to lawmakers for food and lodging while they’re on official business in D.C., but critics of the program say it has very few formal rules and does not require record-keeping, and that as a result there is room for abuse.

In the first 11 months of the program, the Post reported that 153 Democrats and 166 Republicans received reimbursements.

The Post initially identified Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) as the top spender in 2023, but later updated its analysis after reviewing new data. This new data made Bergman the top spender. The Hill has updated its story based on the Post’s own update.

Bergman was reimbursed for more than $32,000 in lodging and nearly $12,000 for meals in 2023, according to data released by the House Tuesday and the Post’s updated analysis.

This compared to Gaetz being reimbursed for nearly $30,000 in lodging expenses and more than $10,000 in food over an 11-month period.

The Hill has reached out to Bergman’s office for comment.

The original analysis found Gaetz billed more than $4,000 for lodging and more than $3,000 for five different months in the 11-month period.

A Gaetz spokesperson told the Post that he was reimbursed for lodging expenses on days when the House was not in session, but he remained in D.C. to work.

“Rep. Gaetz has always complied with House rules regarding congressional reimbursements,” a spokesperson for Gaetz said in a statement to the Post. “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.”

The Post noted that other members of the same subcommittee recorded “significantly less” in expenditures than the Florida lawmaker.

Gaetz’s office told The Hill that he joined House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) for 12 depositions, more than “any other member of the Weaponization Subcommittee,” which required he be in Washington on no-vote days.

“It’s interesting to see the congressman who have million-dollar houses in Washington, DC,” the spokesperson wrote in an emailed statement. “Let’s ban congressional stock trading and then see who starts applying for reimbursements.”

Under the reimbursement program, lawmakers can’t be repaid for principal or interest on their mortgages. They can only expense taxes, insurance, maintenance, utilities and other ancillary costs, the outlet reported.

Of the members who own D.C. homes and participated in the program, Reps. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) and Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) requested “significantly higher reimbursements” than others, the Post reported.

Mace, who owns a $1.6 million Capitol Hill home, expensed more than $19,000 during a nine-month period ending on Sept. 20, 2023, an average of more than $2,000 per month, the analysis found.

When reached for comment, Mace’s office directed The Hill to their comments in the Post, when her spokesperson said they “follow all the rules for reimbursements.”

Swalwell purchased a $1.2 million home in Eckington and was reimbursed nearly $19,000 over an 11-month period in 2023.

The Hill has reached out to Swalwell’s office for comment, but his spokesperson said in a statement to the Post that his expenses reflect the actual cost of working in Washington and there’s nothing “average” about having his wife and kids live in two expensive areas.

[Miami Rebel]

This new reimbursement system reeks of corruption. What was the rationale for initiating it last year?

[Magnum44]

This new reimbursement system reeks of corruption. What was the rationale for initiating it last year?

Uh, corruption?

[sasquatch]

Sounds like the House Post Office again.

[thinden]

This new reimbursement system reeks of corruption. What was the rationale for initiating it last year?

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

maybe because of the cut backs in the congressional sexual harrassment slush fund?

got to take up the slack from somewhere?

[Robert DeLong]

Why does the Post only list the highest, while ignoring the entire House spending on the reimbursement program? There must be a reason for this. I suspect that there are many Democrats who are very close to the leader, and are perhaps even having their expenses being hidden, so as to point to a Republican, which apparently gives you great satisfaction. Because it sure isn't because the Democrats are not taking advantage of this program as well.

While I do not know the answer to your question, it probably has something to be with Reps taking up residence within their Capitol Office. Living costs in The D.C. Metropolitan area has exploded.

In the area many Reps in their districts live have also most likely exploded in price.

But the fact that you claim this is corruption, leads me to wonder who you really are and what you support, because you always seem to post these types of articles that are negative to Trump, or they mention someone associated with the Freedom caucus, negatively. While Jack Bergman is not a member of that caucus, Matt Gaetz certainly is.

The home my parents had in Canterbury Woods in Fairfax Va. was purchased for 25K in the early 60s, the median listing home price is now $749,000. My first apt. cost 200.00 a month, utilities included for a 2 bedroom 2 bath apt. 100 dollars for each of us. That was a lot for us in our late teens.

[PghBaldy]

I thought they can’t increase their pay until a new Congress is seated or something? I was wrong (?) as Courts have ruled 27th Amendment does not pertain to cost of living changes https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/constitutional-amendments-amendment-27-financial-compensation-congress#:~:text=Amendment%20Twenty%2Dseven%20to%20the,until%20the%20next%20election%20concludes.

[Liz]

The reimbursement scam Sounds a lot like the House Post Office scandal.

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Article

Wiki-——There was the House banking scandal in early 1992, when it was revealed that the US House of Representatives allowed its members to overdraw their House checking accounts without the risk of being penalized by the House bank, which was actually a clearinghouse.

Several check kiters lost their seats-——never to be heard from again.

The scandal also sometimes known as Rubbergate (from the expressions “rubber check” (bounced check) and “Watergate),” but the term is misleading because House checks did not bounce but were honored because the House Bank provided overdraft protection to its account holders, and the Office of the Sergeant at Arms covered the House Bank with no penalties.

It is also sometimes known as the “check-kiting scandal.”.

[Liz]

Wiki-——Congressional Post Office scandal

The Congressional Post Office scandal was the discovery of corruption among various Congressional Post Office employees and members of the United States House of Representatives, investigated 1991–95, culminating in House Ways and Means Committee chairman Dan Rostenkowski (D-IL) pleading guilty in 1996 to reduced charges of mail fraud.

Initially an investigation by the United States Capitol Police into a single embezzlement charge against a single employee, evidence rapidly led to the inclusion of several other employees, before top Democrats in the House of Representatives moved to shut down the whole line of inquiry, despite protests from Frank Kerrigan, chief of the Capitol Police.

A new investigation was started by the United States Postal Service, which eventually submitted a report to Congress. This was held by Speaker Tom Foley (D-WA) until media reports of embezzlement and money laundering leaked in 1992. Following public outcry, Democratic leaders of the House were pressured to refer the matter to the United States House Committee on House Administration, which started its own investigation.

That committee broke into two parts along party lines, with the Democrats issuing a report saying the matter was closed, but the Republicans issuing a dissenting report, including a number of unanswered questions and problems with the investigation. The Republican charges were largely ignored until July 1993, when Robert Rota, the Congressional Postmaster, pleaded guilty to three criminal charges, implicating Representatives Dan Rostenkowski (D-IL), Joe Kolter (D-PA) and his then Chief of Staff.

They were accused of heading a conspiracy to launder Post Office money through stamps and postal vouchers. Rostenkowski pleaded guilty in 1996 to mail fraud and was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

In 2000, just before he left office, U.S. President Bill Clinton pardoned Rostenkowski, which became part of a larger controversy about Clinton’s pardons.