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Congressional Perks: House Members, Staff Get Daycare, on-Call Doctor
The 21% budget increase addresses staffing shortages and inflation, enabling each House member to spend about $2 million annually on staff, travel, and office operations.
- House leadership approved a 21% increase in Members' Representational Allowance in the near future, providing 435 U.S. representatives about $2 million each for staff and operations with salaries up to $212,100.
- Recent acceleration since 2020 helped drive larger office budget increases, with experts attributing it to staffing, retention needs, and U.S. population growth of about 70 million over three decades.
- Analysis found repeated catering and Chick‑Fil‑A orders across leadership and individual offices, with House offices' food and beverage spending exceeding $30 million since 2019 and $14 million on bottled water, plus nearly $13 million on the Office of the Attending Physician.
- David Williams, president of the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, called for a review and halving of congressional accounts, while advocates urged appointing a CFO or Special Inspector General for oversight; Congress exempts itself from the Freedom of Information Act, limiting external scrutiny.
- Analysis shows House office accounts climbed more than 85% over three decades, with nearly half of that growth since 2020, and individual offices receive about $810 million in 2024.
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Watauga Democrat+3 Reposted by 3 other sources
Congressional Perks: House account spending jumped 21% in 2022
(The Center Square) – Spending on U.S. House of Representatives office accounts increased by more than 85% over the past three decades but nearly half of that occurred since 2020, an investigation by The Center Square found.
·Calhoun, United States
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Coverage Details
Total News Sources12
Leaning Left4Leaning Right0Center3Last UpdatedBias Distribution57% Left
Bias Distribution
- 57% of the sources lean Left
57% Left
L 57%
C 43%
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