A Democratic congressman wants to create affordable housing in Washington, DC — for members of the House.

As the nation’s capital struggles with a homeless crisis, Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson plans to introduce legislation as soon as this week calling for a study into converting a vacant residence hall blocks from the US Capitol into cheap housing for the well-paid politicians.

“I think that building should be available to members of Congress who have found housing costs to be prohibitive,” Thompson told The Post — referring to House members who rake in at least $174,000 a year.

“It can be the affordable-housing-availability option,” he said.

The move follows a recent Post exposé about the scores of House members — including Reps. Gregory Meeks (D-Queens) and Dan Donovan (R-SI) — who bunk overnight in their offices, claiming they can’t afford DC apartments in addition to their homes.

The average monthly rent on a studio apartment in Washington is $1,591, down 3 percent over the past year, according to a report this month from Rentcafe.com.

Meanwhile, DC — which has an estimated homeless population of 6,904 people — is spending $80,000 a night to house 600 families in hotels.

But Thompson has his eye on a two-story brick building for House members. It was built in the 1940s as a dormitory for nurses and sits in what’s now a posh neighborhood of pricey townhouses.

The government-owned property was most recently occupied by high school students who were working as House pages. But it’s been empty since that program was shut down in 2011, following the scandal that forced Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) to resign in disgrace for sending lewd online messages to several male former pages.

Washington realtor Mandy Mills of the Compass real estate agency favored Thompson’s plan, saying, “Vacant property is never a good thing.”

But the proposal isn’t sitting well with some colleagues, who said it raises the specter of a congressional version of “Animal House.”

“I don’t know it would be a good idea to have people in a big place like that,” said Rep. Mike Bishop (R-Mich.). “The more I think about it, the less likely I would be to support it. It might be a breeding house for something bad.”

And Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) noted that members of Congress can easily afford market-rate rents on their hefty salaries.

“Give me a break,” she said. “If we are going to use that facility for anyone’s more affordable housing options, it should be for interns, for young people, to introduce them to the process.’’

Even Donovan — who recently said that “Washington is too expensive” — said he would rather keep camping out on the cot he covers with a gray-and-white-striped quilt in an alcove of his office.

“Our national debt is over $20 trillion, so I don’t think it’s a great use of taxpayer funds to build Congress a dorm,” he said.

“Sleeping in my office isn’t very comfortable, but it’s my choice to save for my daughter’s college instead of spending money on a DC apartment. I’m here to work, not relive my college days in a taxpayer-funded dorm.”

A spokeswoman for outgoing House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) — a proud member of the congressional “cot club” — said of the empty residence hall, “The House Office Buildings Commission has no plans at this time for repurposing the space.”