After Aaron Schock scandal, Congress weighs crackdown
After Aaron Schock scandal, Congress weighs crackdown
House leaders are considering sweeping changes to Congress’ reimbursement requirements in the wake of the Aaron Schock scandal, including forcing lawmakers to provide more detailed documentation about how they spend taxpayer money and disclosing those details to the public.
The overhaul would mark the first official policy change on Capitol Hill in response to Schock’s alleged misspending of taxpayer money. The Illinois Republican resigned after POLITICO revealed he had received reimbursement for thousands of miles his vehicle apparently didn’t travel.
Though the internal congressional review is ongoing, one change under consideration would require lawmakers to provide more detailed evidence of expenses in order to receive a reimbursement. Perhaps the most drastic change the committee could consider is to compel members of Congress to publicly disclose the details of each purchase by their office. The institution did that before 2010, but now purchases are detailed only in broad categories.
Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.), who was tapped along with Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) to spearhead a review of the reimbursement system after Schock resigned, said the changes could be even more sweeping.
“We’re looking at making sure that policies are in place — regardless if they were in place before or not — that are going to ensure there is a more seamless process throughout the entire vouchering system,” Davis said. “If that means going back to protocols that may have been in place prior to 2010 that worked — sure — but we may go beyond that.”
Lawmakers receive more than $1 million each year to pay staff and operate their Washington and district offices. They submit reports to the House’s chief administrative officer and are reimbursed by the U.S. Treasury. Schock, however, appeared to exploit holes in the system. He submitted reimbursements for 170,000 miles of driving to both his campaign and congressional office, but when he sold the car, it had roughly 80,000 miles on the odometer
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/congress-reimbursement-requirements-aaron-schock-scandal-120006.html#ixzz3fmYirSwN
