Pelosi’s Hide and Seek Accounting
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s directive for lawmakers to disclose individual office spending online for the first time was billed as a victory for transparency. Well, not really. Earlier this month, the House clerk posted 3,400 pages of expense reports detailing about $300 million in spending on everything from staff salaries to mail, but the effort was a sham. The new disclosure system hides more than it reveals.
Mrs. Pelosi trumpeted the move online for reports that for decades had been released only on paper as providing “a full accounting of Members’ and officers’ spending for official congressional business” that “will expand accountability to taxpayers and the press.” However, instead of including specific details – such as which staffers were taking what trips or what electronics they bought – the speaker has allowed these types of personal expenses to be hidden in broad categories such as “equipment” or “comp. Hardware.” Travel expenses are bundled together with no details about who went where.
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