Rolling in your dough: Well-known member of Congress charged taxpayers plenty for limousines
Topline: Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) has billed taxpayers $111,000 for limousine services since 2019, according to a review of disbursement reports by The Center Square. The other 434 members of the House spent just $49,000 combined on the luxury service.
Key facts: Waters’ spending includes $26,000 from July 2024 to June 2025.
Her cars have been provided from Limousine House LLC since 2021, but The Center Square noted that there is little information available about the company. Its listed address is a residential apartment in Alexandria, Va., but the company does not appear in corporate registries anywhere in the Washington, D.C., area or in Waters’ home state of California.
The company has no website and was listed as “defunct” by the Virginia State Corporation Commission as of September 2024, according to The Center Square.
Waters’ office did not return The Center Square’s request for comment.
Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT) took the two most expensive limousine trips last year. He hired Elite Limousine Services for $850 on May 28 and again for $1,100 two days later.
Rep. Timothy Kennedy (D-NY) spent $848 for a limousine on Sept. 6, when Congress was not in session.
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Background: The payments come from House members’ representational allowances, an annual office budget that lawmakers use to pay staff and cover expenses like airfare, hotels, food and more.
House members have not raised their own $174,000 salary since 2009. Instead, they’ve increased their representational allowances from $1.4 million in 2009 to $2 million this year.
Individual House members have previously spent up to $380,000 on travel in 15 months
Lawmakers can also use their allowance to spend up to $1,000 per month on a car lease. Most members don’t do so, but Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) — whose net worth is estimated at $285 million — was previously found to be using the full $1,000.
Senators get an expense account of over $6 million on average. The exact amount varies based on how far their home state is from the Capitol.
Summary: It may be difficult for Congress to solve America’s budget crisis while riding around in the comfort of a limousine.
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