Hot on Facebook

Guy Buys $123 Safe on eBay, Finds $26,000 Inside Seller tries to get half the cash back, fails »

House to Post Expenses Online

Pelosi orders info on lawmakers' spending be made easier to access

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Jun 4, 2009 1:21 AM CDT

(Newser) – The House is planning to put lists of lawmakers' expenses online in an effort to share more information with the public, the Wall Street Journal reports. The move, announced by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi yesterday, will give taxpayers easy access to details on lawmakers' expenses, which run up to $1.9 million a year. Until now, records have only been available in hefty bound volumes kept at the Capitol.

Taxpayer groups hailed the move to make it easier to view the expenses, which, in the most recent records available, included luxury car leases, top-end laptops, big-screen TVs, and flower arrangements. In the Senate, where expense allowances can be as high as $4.5 million, Republican Tom Coburn has promised to introduce a bill requiring senators' expense records also be posted online.

[Images (2)]

[Quotes (1)]

House members of the 111th Congress are sworn in early this year in the House Chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, seen here opening the 111th Congress in January, has requested that House lawmakers' expenses be posted online. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

The House is making every effort to operate in a transparent manner, and online publication of these reports will expand accountability to taxpayers and the press. - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

To report an error on this story, notify our editors.

More Newser Stories

US Taxpayers, Too, Billed for Lawmakers' Cars, Cameras

Taxpayer groups criticize Congress for making expense info hard to get hold of

(NEWSER) - No moat-cleaning, but there were cameras, TVs, and fancy cars among the expenses members of Congress have charged to taxpayers recently, a Wall Street Journal investigation inspired by the British expenses scandal finds. House members are given up to $1.9 million a year and senators get up to $4.5 million to spend on job-related expenses, but, the Journal reports, the accounting is often opaque. More»

Congress Gets a Raise

Watchdog groups slam lawmakers' automatic pay raise amid economic chaos

(NEWSER) - The flatlining economy hasn't stopped Congress from getting a pay raise, the Hill reports. Lawmakers will get an extra $4,700 a year starting in January, amounting to a total of $2.5 million. The 2.8% automatic raise is only half as large as the cost of living adjustment for Social Security recipients, but critics say it's insensitive in light of troubles facing taxpayers—and Congress' own push to limit auto execs' salaries to $1 a year. More»

Payroll Tax Deal: $20 a Week in Paychecks

Tentative deal emerges in House-Senate talks

(AP) - House-Senate talks on renewing a payroll tax cut that delivers about $20 a week to the average worker yielded a tentative agreement today, with lawmakers hopeful of unveiling the pact tomorrow and sending the measure to President Obama as early as this week. Under the outlines of the emerging agreement, a 2-percentage-point cut in the Social Security payroll tax would be extended through the end of the year, with the nearly $100 billion cost added to the deficit. More»

Insider-Trading Probe Targets House Committee Chair

Rep. Spencer Bachus faces first-of-its-kind ethics investigation

(NEWSER) - Foxes have been found guarding hen houses on Capitol Hill in the past, but ethics investigators now believe they have identified a particularly greedy one. Rep. Spencer Bachus, chair of the House Financial Services Committee, is being probed for possible violations of insider-trading laws, reports the Washington Post . The investigation of the Alabama Republican is the first of its kind involving a member of Congress, and comes as lawmakers are taking steps to stamp out insider trading by legislators and executive branch officials . More»

Lawmakers Shuffled Millions to Relatives' Causes

'Washington Post' finds 16 members of Congress engaging in practice

(NEWSER) - A Washington Post investigation finds that 16 members of Congress have sent tax dollars, sometimes in the millions, to companies or other organizations with links to their family trees. Through direct funding or earmarking, these lawmakers have boosted the budgets of Pentagon programs, environmental groups, schools, and other places where their spouses, children, or parents have been employed, sat on the board, or worked as lobbyists. In interviews, the lawmakers insist the actions were meant to assist organizations that, in turn, help residents of their districts. Indeed, congressional committees have found that such practices are fine as long as the money doesn't directly or solely benefit the lawmakers' relatives. More»

NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS

What is Newser?

Face it: there's too much news. At Newser, we choose the most thought-provoking and entertaining stories from hundreds of US and international sources and reduce them to a headline, picture, and two paragraphs. And we do it 24/7—you can come back morning, noon, night (and in between) for something new that matters. Read less, know more.

Learn more »

Partnering with: Slate

View Newser on the mobile website

House to Post Expenses Online