At first it’s laughable: A push by some members of Congress to stop their peers from sleeping in their government offices. Don’t they have other things to worry about?
But at second glance, the issue has some merit when you think about it this way: If you were a business owner, would you allow your employees to sleep inside your business?
Most everyone would say no. That would be 1.) Mooching. 2.) Unsanitary.
That’s essentially what this situation is: The offices on Capitol Hill are owned by the citizens of this country, and elected officials work for the people. At least that’s how it’s supposed to be.
Some are trying to make that ideal more like reality. Politico reported this week that more than two dozen members of the Congressional Black Caucus signed onto a letter by the House Ethics Committee chair, a Republican, and a ranking member, a Democrat, asking for an investigation into the “legality and propriety” of such conduct.
“There’s something unsanitary about bringing people to your office who are talking about public policy where you spent the night, and that’s unhealthy, unsanitary — and some people would say it’s almost nasty,” Politico quoted Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., as saying.
Politico says the sleepovers have been common among conservatives since the 1994 “Republican Revolution.” They say it’s to show they are thrifty and not part of the Washington swamp. Politico said dozens of the representatives do it, even House Speaker Paul Ryan, who has argued it allows him to be more efficient.
But the alternative is that they’re using taxpayer-paid office space for personal use – and to avoid having to pay D.C. rent.
“Members who sleep overnight in their offices receive free lodging, free cable, free security, free cleaning services, and utilize other utilities free of charge in direct violation of the ethics rules which prohibit official resources from being used for personal purposes,” the letter to the Ethics Committee states, as quoted by Politico.
The issue reflects why Congress has so much trouble passing laws that make sense for the people rather than special interests: Elected officials receive so many perks – great, low-cost health care, for example – that they are insulated from the struggles of the real world.
“I think public housing should be for people who need it, not for members of Congress,” one lawmaker quipped.
We say let them go out and pay for rent in Washington; maybe that will make them more amenable to the complaints about the lack of affordable housing throughout the nation.
And at the very least, it would be a hygienic win for visiting constituents.
— Charlie Smith
