Ethics Group Files Complaint Against Congressmen's Frat House Digs

This has to rank as one of the wackiest ethics complaints of all time filed against members of Congress. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington has filed a complaint against 33 members of the House of Representatives, including Indiana's Todd Rokita and Todd Young, because they are using their Capitol Hill offices to bunk at nights rather than renting or buying a place to live while working in Washington.

“House office buildings are not dorms or frat houses,” said CREW Executive Director Melanie Sloan. “If members didn’t want to find housing in Washington, they shouldn’t have run for Congress in the first place.”


"Living in a House office violates the prohibition on using taxpayer resources for anything other than the performance of official duties," states a CREW release. "The Members’ Handbook states that the Member Representational Allowance may not be used for personal expenses.


"Further, under the Internal Revenue Code, members who sleep in their offices are receiving a taxable benefit. The IRS treats lodging as a taxable fringe benefit unless it is offered on the employer's business premises, is for the employer's convenience, and is required as a condition of employment. As living in a House office clearly is not a condition of serving in Congress, members must pay taxes for imputed income based on the fair market value of their lodging.

"Notably, members of Congress and congressional staff already have imputed taxable income based on the fair market value of their reserved parking spaces. If members must pay taxes to lodge their cars, surely they must pay taxes for their own lodging."

Hey, these guys aren't trying to take advantage of taxpayers. They just like hanging out together at the House gym and showering and dressing together. Among the list of congressmen using their offices as frat house digs include U.S. Rep. Sean Duffy (R-WI), a former cast member of the MTV's Real World Boston, who is married to Rachel Campos, an alum of Real World San Francisco, and U.S. Rep. Ben Quayle (R-AZ) of Dirtyscottsdale.com fame and son of former Vice President Dan Quayle.

Here's the complete list of congressmen bunking in their offices. I noticed it includes no female House members.

Dan Boren (D-Okla.), John Carney (D-Del.), Steve Chabot (R-Ohio), Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), Hansen Clarke (D-Mich.), Sean Duffy (R-Wis.), Stephen Fincher (R-Tenn.), Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), Chris Gibson (R-N.Y.), Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), Tim Griffin (R-Ark.), Morgan Griffith (R-Va.), Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.), Richard Hanna (R-N.Y.), Joe Heck (R-Nev.), Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.), Bill Johnson (R-Ohio), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.), Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), Patrick Meehan (R-Pa.), Ben Quayle (R-Ariz.), Mike Quigley (D-Ill.), Todd Rokita (R-Ind.), Bobby Rush (D-Ill.), Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), David Schweikert (R-Ariz.), Steve Stivers (R-Ohio), John Sullivan (R-Okla.), Tim Walberg (R-Mich.), Joe Walsh (R-Ill.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.).

As an interesting side note, one of the first members known to sleep in his Capitol Hill office was former U.S. Rep. James Traficant, Jr. (D-OH), who was expelled from the House for taking bribes.