U.S. Rep. Jack Bergman
Michigan Congressman Jack Bergman, a Republican from the western Upper Peninsula, got the most reimbursements for living expenses last year for days working in Washington of any Congress member in the country, according to an analysis by the Detroit News.
Bergman expensed more than $32,000 in costs tied to a home he rents in Washington and nearly $12,000 for food, the News reports. Bergman's reimbursements represent about 21 percent of the total $207,000 that was reimbursed to Michigan U.S. House of Representatives.
Florida Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz ranked second, only behind Bergman, for reimbursements of all Congress members, according to the Washington Post.
The tax-payer funded program is designed to make it easier for Congress members with modest means to maintain homes in both Washington and their district. Critics have expressed concerns that the program does not require receipts or detailed disclosures of expenses, leaving open the potential for abuse, the News reports.
The News reports:
Bergman spokesman James Hogge stressed the high cost of living in Washington, D.C., and noted the congressman, a retired Marine lieutenant general and commercial airline pilot, paid those costs and more from his pocket over the seven years since he took office.
"Unless the General and Cindy are supposed to sleep on a cot in his office, having a place to stay in D.C. is important and costly. The General has likely spent hundreds of thousands of dollars out of his pocket in costs to rent a house there, have a car there, etc.," said Hogge, referencing Bergman's wife, Cindy.
