US Senate Bails Out Own Barbershop

Senators throw $230K at beloved shop
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 13, 2012 4:37 PM CST
US Senate Bails Out Own Barbershop
The US Senate spent $230,000 to bail out its own barbershop.   (Shutterstock)

The US Senate bailed out its own barbershop after it ran nearly $300,000 in the red last year—despite $27 cut-and-blow-drys, $105 highlight jobs, and 27,000 annual customers, The Daily reports. “There’s no way to sugarcoat” the problem, says Senate Sergeant at Arms Terrance Gainer. "It’s costing the government money, and that includes taxpayers like you and me. That’s the way it is. I just have not pulled the trigger. That’s on me.”

Former Republican Sen. Peter Fitzgerald blames the cost of federal employee stylists, who charge more than their private sector peers—up to $81,641. “They are using union labor, and so their benefits and wages are higher than those of many jobs,” he says. But senators love the 153-year-old shop and have bonded with the barbers. “I call him the butcher," John McCain says fondly of his favorite. "He is a butcher, and I’ve got the scars to prove it. I’m lucky to be alive and have needed several blood transfusions to survive.” (More US Senate stories.)

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