Sen. Rand Paul made a big show of it: He called a news conference and unveiled a Publishers Clearinghouse-size check for $500,000, the amount of unspent office funds he was returning to the U.S. Treasury after his first year in office.
Just doing his part to reduce the deficit, right? But Paul (R-Ky.) isn?t special ? virtually every senator returns a few bucks to the treasury each year from their office budget ? and some have become pretty aggressive about showing their fiscal fortitude.
Continue ReadingDuring the past three years, Sen. Richard Shelby has returned more money to taxpayers than any other senator ? about 40 percent or $1.2 million a year ? according to a POLITICO analysis of all Senate office budgets. Sen. Barbara Boxer has consistently given back the least: less than 1 percent each year.
The gulf between Shelby, an Alabama Republican, and Boxer, a California Democrat, reflects a philosophical divide in Congress about how much money lawmakers need to effectively represent their states and constituents as the debate rages over the proper size and scope of the federal government.
But the office budget stats don?t necessarily play to stereotypes about fiscal conservatives versus Big Government liberals. The most frugal senators after Shelby in fiscal years 2009 and 2010 were Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii), who returned a combined 34.3 percent of his budget; Jim Risch (R-Idaho) at 25.1 percent; Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) at 23.6 percent; and Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) at 23.5 percent.
Don?t mistake Shelby?s thriftiness for inaction, his spokesman warned. Since his election to the Senate in 1986, Shelby has attended 1,681 town halls. And what about his 23-member staff, split between Washington and five offices in Alabama? It?s ?lean and efficient but well paid,? spokesman Jonathan Graffeo said.
Other senators seem content to use virtually all the office money they?re allotted.
During those same fiscal years, Boxer returned 0.65 percent of her budget; Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), a member of the bipartisan Gang of Six deficit-cutting group, returned 0.86 percent; former Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) gave back 0.89 percent; Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) returned 0.92 percent; and Banking Committee Chairman Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) and Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) tied at slightly more than 1 percent.
Boxer?s office is unapologetic about its spending.
?We have always dedicated our resources to serving the 38 million people who live throughout California,? spokesman Andy Stone said, ?whether it?s helping thousands of homeowners avoid foreclosure, ensuring that veterans and seniors get the benefits they deserve or responding to the millions of calls and emails we receive each year from constituents.?
Overall, Senate Republicans returned about 11.7 percent of their $269 million in available office funds and Democrats returned about 8.3 percent of their budgeted amount of $390 million over the past two years, according to a POLITICO analysis of salaries, travel, rent, supplies and other expenses published by the secretary of the Senate.
This analysis did not take into account funding for Senate committees.
Of course, the total savings by Senate offices in those two fiscal years ? about $64 million ? won?t even nick the surface of the nation?s $15 trillion debt. But some senators said it?s crucial for lawmakers to lead by example. Republicans, in particular, have called for extending the two-year pay freeze for federal workers an extra year to pay for the cost of the payroll tax holiday and unemployment benefits package.
?If Congress is not prepared to show leadership, I think it undermines your ability to ask other people to sacrifice,? Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, the top Republican on the Budget Committee, told POLITICO. Sessions returned roughly 9 percent of his budget in 2009 and 2010. He gave back more than 15 percent in fiscal year 2011, though figures for last year are incomplete since many senators are still in the process of submitting expenses.
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