taxpayer money

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Trump Jr.'s Controversial Trip Cost Taxpayers $77K

That was the Secret Service cost of his 8-day Mongolia trip

(Newser) - Donald Trump Jr. continues to be dogged by that sheep-hunting trip to Mongolia —one that documents now show cost taxpayers roughly $77,000. ProPublica in December reported on the eight-day August trip, during which the oldest son of the US president killed a rare argali sheep and obtained a...

Cost of Ex-Navy Secretary's Trip to Guam: $243K

Modly reportedly flew at a cost of $7K an hour

(Newser) - Former acting US Navy Secretary Thomas Modly's trip to Guam to lecture sailors who gave a roaring sendoff to their fired captain cost taxpayers a whopping $243,151.65. Modly, who resigned Tuesday , flew 35 hours on a C-37B at a cost of $6,946.19 per hour, USA ...

Price of Chris Christie Portrait Raises Eyebrows

$85K price tag is more than paid by NJ's 3 previous governors combined

(Newser) - Chris Christie has found a new way to ruffle taxpayers' feathers despite having left office earlier this year as the least popular governor in New Jersey history. Christie has commissioned award-winning Australian artist Paul Newton to paint his official portrait at a cost of $85,000, the Bergen Record reports....

Rep Booted From House Ethics Panel, Will Face Ethics Inquiry

'NYT' reports US Rep. Patrick Meehan settled sex harassment complaint with taxpayer money

(Newser) - House Speaker Paul Ryan called for an Ethics Committee investigation Saturday after the New York Times reported that US Rep. Patrick Meehan used taxpayer money to settle a complaint that stemmed from his hostility toward a former aide who rejected his romantic overtures. The story cited unnamed people who said...

Report: EPA Chief Receiving 'Unprecedented' Security

Agency says 24/7 protection is needed because Scott Pruitt is receiving lots of death threats

(Newser) - Scott Pruitt's travel , and how he's been traveling , has already come under fire. Now the EPA chief is under the microscope for what CNN calls an "unprecedented level" of protection. That includes the reported hiring of 12 new security officers, which TPM notes would bring the total...

HHS Head Too Busy to Fly Commercial, Says Rep

Democrats are calling for an investigation

(Newser) - Government officials "check every possible source for travel needs, including commercial, but commercial travel is not always feasible" for Tom Price, who has "an incredibly demanding schedule." That's how a spokesperson defended the Health and Human Services secretary Wednesday after a Politico report claimed Price used...

Rep With Downton Office Likes Lavish Travel, Too

Schock billed taxpayers for private plane flights

(Newser) - Rep. Aaron Schock has been billing the taxpayer for a lot more than his lavish, Downton Abbey-inspired office , an AP investigation into a man it terms "a rising Republican star" finds. Over the last few years, the Illinois lawmaker has spent at least $40,000 in taxpayer and campaign...

Taxpayers Pay Big for Rep's Downton-Style Office

Aaron Schock's new office digs are getting some notice

(Newser) - Rep. Aaron Schock, an up-and-comer previously best known for baring his six-pack on the cover of Men's Health, has a new claim to fame in the form of his interior decor: It seems the Washington Post 's Style reporter Ben Terris popped by the Illinois rep's digs...

Government Workers Told: Bring Your Own Paper Plates

Workers should bring own dishes, cutlery to work: GAO

(Newser) - Federal workers need to provide their own dishes and cutlery at work, according to the Government Accountability Office. National Weather Service employees have been feuding with the Commerce Department, arguing federal agencies should foot the bill for dishware, since 2013 when Commerce said it could no longer provide "disposable...

Cleveland Pol Wants 'Win Tax' to Prod Losing Teams

Stadium money would be doled out by 'fan council'

(Newser) - Local governments are constantly doling out cash to professional sports teams, and now one Cleveland politician thinks the public deserves to see some wins for its money. Cuyahoga County voters last month extended a "sin tax" on alcohol and cigarettes to pay for stadium upkeep for Cleveland's three...

Here's How Much We're Paying for Congress' Cars

63 House members spend $461,330 a year on auto leases

(Newser) - When the House voted against raising its own pay last week, it also quietly voted to keep a cherished perk: taxpayer-funded car leases. Rep. Rich Nugent had offered an amendment to disallow the practice, but it lost by 20 votes, the Washington Post reports. "Today, members of Congress can...

Queen's Jubilee Year Cost UK Taxpayers $50.7M

That's an extra $1.4M more than the year prior

(Newser) - We're hoping that Britons enjoyed Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee year—because it ran taxpayers about $1.4 million more than the year before. The long-reigning monarch's official bottom line expenses came in at $50.7 million, according to royal finances. Where did the additional money go? Mainly...

GOP Files Ethics Complaint on McCaskill

They want investigation into use of tax money for flight

(Newser) - Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill is the target of a GOP-filed ethics complaint over her personal plane, Politico reports. McCaskill has acknowledged that she mistakenly used taxpayer money to cover the cost of one purely political trip last year, and she reimbursed the Treasury Department for it last week. Today, Missouri...

Taxpayers Footed Fannie, Freddie's $160M Legal Bill

Americans spend $24.2 million to defend executives

(Newser) - Taxpayers have spent more than $160 million defending Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in fraud lawsuits since the government took over the companies in 2008. The closely guarded cost was released last week after Rep. Randy Neugebauer requested the figures last year. Some $132 million of the total went to...

Haley Barbour Takes Heat for Posh Jet Trips

State shells out as governor 'mixes business with pleasure'

(Newser) - Haley Barbour jets around on a classy Mississippi state jet—but not all the governor’s trips look like state business, Politico finds. He also uses the 12-seater Cessna, funded largely by tax dollars, to attend fundraisers for other Republicans, to appear on Meet the Press and Face the Nation ...

20+ Lawmakers Hit Copenhagen on US Dime

Full delegation—including staffers, plus wives—over 100

(Newser) - More than 20 members of Congress hit the Copenhagen climate conference last month, a CBS investigation finds—and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office, which was in charge of the guest list, is being shifty about what it all cost. Of the fact that lawmakers (and some wives) commandeered three...

Obama Budget Likely to Include Bank Fees

Aims to recoup bailout losses, avoid passing along to customers

(Newser) - The Obama administration will likely include a provision in next month’s budget that imposes fees on banks in an effort to make back some of the taxpayer money lost on the bailout and close the record deficit. Politico has it that a transaction tax is not on the table;...

US Reaps Profit as Banks Pay Back TARP Funds

Fed pulls in $14B from loan programs

(Newser) - When the government spent some $240 billion last year to help avert financial disaster, the idea of making a profit from the TARP funds invested in teetering banks looked like a long shot. Now, however, profits from eight banks who’ve paid back the cash have totaled some $4 billion,...

TARP Watchdog: Bailouts May Cost US $24T

Number based on 'hypothetical maximum,' Treasury counters

(Newser) - The special inspector overseeing Treasury’s TARP program says federal assistance to banks and other financial entities could end up costing taxpayers $23.7 trillion, Bloomberg reports. Aside from the $700 billion bailout, Neil Barofsky says in testimony prepared for told Congress tomorrow, other trillion-dollar federal programs could balloon. “...

Another UK Lawmaker Suspended Over Expenses

Public outrage grows over scandal

(Newser) - Britain’s Labour Party has suspended David Chaytor, the latest lawmaker caught up in a widening expense account scandal, the Daily Telegraph reports. Chaytor reportedly claimed $20,000 in interest on a mortgage that was already paid off. Chaytor has said he made an “unforgivable error in my accounting...

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