The House has adopted private sector best practices related to Member lodging costs, combating limitations that a seat in Congress could only be maintained by the independently wealthy.
Why This Matters
It is standard business practice for travel and lodging expenses to be reimbursable for employees required to travel for business. However, prior to 2023, Members were required to personally pay for their lodging costs in Washington, DC on top of maintaining their residences in their home districts. The need for Members to personally cover the cost of a hotel or a rented apartment was a substantial financial burden on elected officials and their families, leaving some Members to resort to sleeping in their offices.
For example, in 2024, the House is scheduled to be in session 114 days. A typical hotel room in DC is about $225 per night, resulting in an annual estimated out-of-pocket, personal expense to Members of $25,650 in lodging fees. This high cost of being in DC to vote is a hidden element of being a Member that deters people from running for office, especially those from non-affluent backgrounds. To address this disparity, ModCom explored solutions and recommended the House update its reimbursement practices.
How It Happened
To modernize the House’s practices to better align with industry best practice, in 2023, the Committee on House Administration revised the Members’ Congressional Handbook to list Members’ official duty station as their home district, allowing Members to be reimbursed for lodging expenses incurred while in DC for official business. This work built upon the attention and research done on this issue by ModCom, resulting in recommendation #200.
The Impact
Allowing Members to be reimbursed for their lodging while in DC for official business greatly decreased the personal costs of an individual being a Member of Congress, further opening the door to people who are not independently wealthy to be able to pursue a career as a lawmaker in the House. As former Rep. Rodney Davis [R, IL] put it:
“The bottom line is, this is about giving more choices and treating members of Congress like every other employee, not just of government, but throughout the nation.”
Next Steps
Ensuring that any American who wants to run for Congress is not constrained by personal financial barriers once elected to serve is a vital element of our democracy. In addition to aligning House lodging reimbursement practices with industry best practices, Members of the House should champion reforms to standardize annual COLA for Members. The last salary adjustment for Congress members occurred in January 2009, marking a 2.8% rise to $174,000.
Glossary
ADA = Americans with Disabilities Act
AOC = Architect of the Capitol
CHA = Committee on House Administration
CAO = House Chief Administrative Officer
CDTF = Congressional Data Task Force
COLA = Cost-of-Living Adjustment
CPF = Community Project Funding
CR = Continuing Resolution
GAO = Government Accountability Office
GAO STAA = The Government Accountability Office’s Science, Technology Assessment, and Analytics team
GenAI = Generative Artificial Intelligence
HIRO = House Intern Resource Office
HDS = House Digital Service
LIS = Legislative Information Service
LLM = Large Language Model
MIA = Modernization Initiatives Account
ModCom = The House Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress
ModSub = Subcommittee on Modernization (ModSub) within the Committee on House Administration
MOU = Memorandum of Understanding
NMO = New Member Orientation
OCWR = Office of Congressional Workplace Rights
