WASHINGTON – Greg Pence, a freshman congressman and brother of Vice President Mike Pence, reported spending more than $7,600 in campaign funds on lodging at the Trump International Hotel in the first few months after his election in November, although lawmakers are supposed to pay for their own housing in Washington.

After USA TODAY asked about the expenses included on his Federal Election Commission disclosure reports, Pence’s spokesman, Kyle Robertson, declined to say whether the Indiana Republican stayed at the hotel before getting an apartment in Washington.

Hours after USA TODAY pressed for more detail on the nature of the lodging expenses, the campaign filed an amended FEC report that changed the designation of the expenses to "fundraising event costs."

Federal election rules allow campaign funds to be spent on hotels for fundraising events. And Pence separately reported more than $15,000 in catering and reception costs at Trump’s hotel in December and January.

“But lodging is obviously different from that,” said Erin Chlopak, a campaign finance expert at the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center. “If one were traveling out of state for an event, then that might be a different question.”

Federal rules on the use of campaign funds for personal expenses were tightened in the 1990s after Mike Pence and other candidates were criticized for paying mortgages and other living expenses with campaign funds in 1990.

Rules now state that campaign funds can’t be used for expenses like housing that the candidate or officeholder would have even if they weren’t campaigning.

"Using campaign funds for personal use is prohibited," the FEC says.

Robertson said the expenses initially reported as “lodging” were “all fundraising event costs” but he declined to offer specifics. Robertson also wouldn't say if any of the costs went toward hotel stays by Pence or others on the night of a fundraiser.

"In order to avoid confusion here from hostile reporters, the FEC report will be amended to change the description from `lodging' to `fundraising event costs,'" Robertson said before the updated reports were filed.

Trump hotel costs

In all, Pence spent more than $43,000 at Trump hotels in Washington and New York since Jan. 1, 2018, including nearly $23,000 since the Nov. 6 election. The costs initially described as "lodging" were among those expenditures.

Pence’s disclosure reports list two Trump Hotel catering expenses for receptions at the beginning of the year, around the time he was being sworn into office: $5,897.03 on Jan. 2 and $3,266.29 on Jan. 7. His campaign also paid for a $6,000 “reception expense” on Dec. 7.

But the reports separately list a $4,189.76 payment on Feb. 5 and a $290 payment on March 14,each of which were labeled “lodging expense" prior to the amended filing.

In the weeks after the election but before he was sworn in on Jan. 3, Pence reported a combined $3,151.26 in “lodging expenses” at the hotelthat are now reclassified as "fundraising expense costs."

About $6,000 of the post-election expenses initially designated as lodging were first paid for by Pence, who was later reimbursed by the campaign.

His campaign also reported spending $1,653.60 on lodging at Washington's Hyatt Regency on Jan. 7.

The date recorded for campaign expenses can represent the date the bill was paid rather than the date the expense was incurred.

Rooms at the Trump International Hotel, a luxury hotel a few blocks from the White House that has become a favorite haunt of Republicans, foreign dignitaries and others with government business, start at around $350, according to the website.

During the campaign, Pence spent more than $22,000 at Trump’s hotels in Washington or in New York City, mostly for lodging.

Fundraising events at hotels are common campaign expenses. And if a candidate is traveling for an event, then lodging expenses closely connected to the event are not considered personal use. For example, if a New York congressman travels to California solely for a fundraiser, lodging can be paid for by the campaign.But extra nights at a hotel, for example, could not.

When a trip combines both personal and campaign or officeholder activity, the campaign committee must be reimbursed within 30 days for the amount associated with the personal activities, which the FEC describes as "the amount over and above what the cost would have been had the trip/vehicle use been solely for campaign/officeholder-related purposes."

Rules on housing expenses

The more than $43,000 that Pence’s campaign has spent at Trump properties in 2018 and 2019 is more than any other member of Congress has paid. The Hill, which was first to report that Pence's spending topped others', also reported that Pence now has an apartment in Washington where he stays when Congress is in session.

Robertson confirmed that Pence has an apartment, but declined to say if Pence stayed in the hotel before getting the place.

The FEC’s website says campaigns may not pay for mortgage, rent or utilities for the personal residence of a candidate or family member even if part of the residence is being used for campaign purposes.

In a 1980 decision, the FEC said that the campaign of newly elected Sen. Frank Murkowski “may not pay for living expenses during the transition period, as those are not incidental to an election.”

In 1993, when Rep. Leon Panetta was resigning to jointhe Clinton administration and wanted to use campaign funds for a two-week hotel stay while he was in between offices, the FEC said the campaign could not cover the portion of the hotel bill which represented lodging.

“It would seem that the FEC has taken the position in the past that campaign money cannot be used for living expenses, during a transition to being a member of Congress, and by implication, it would appear that that is the case as well once you are serving in Congress,” said Fred Wertheimer, president of Democracy 21, which supports stricter campaign finance laws.

Mike Pence's campaign spending

Rules on personal use of campaign funds were tightened in 1995, after Democrats challenged the spending of several Republican candidates, including Mike Pence.

In an unsuccessful bid for the House seat he would later win in 2000 and that his brother now holds, Mike Pence used campaign funds in 1990 to help pay his Indianapolis mortgage, car payments and credit card bills. He said at the time that the expenses were permissible – and were necessary to avoid taking on debt in order to run for Congress.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee complained to the FEC, which deadlocked on whether the expenses were legal.

Instead, the FEC decided to put out new rules going forward.

“If the expense would exist even in the absence of the candidacy or even if the officeholder were not in office,” the FEC now says, “then the personal use ban applies.”

Contributing: John Fritze