These lame ducks still fly – on the taxpayer’s dime – often to faraway countries

Bill Theobald | USA TODAY

WASHINGTON – Last September, Rep. Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania became the latest in a large cohort of members of Congress to announce his retirement.

About a month later, Dent, a seven-term Republican and former chairman of the House ethics committee, arrived in Italy on the first leg of a six-day, three-nation trip at taxpayer expense that included stops in Belgium and Luxembourg.

The cost to taxpayers for Dent’s trip: nearly $7,000.

His post-retirement announcement travel habits are hardly unique. At least 17 retiring members of Congress have gone on overseas trips after announcing they were not going to seek re-election, according to travel information included in the Congressional Record. All were on the taxpayer’s dime with a total cost of nearly $190,000.

There is nothing illegal about these trips, and all were signed off on by the chairman of the committee under whose authority the trip was taken. But they do raise the issue of how much benefit the constituents in these cases get when their representatives travel shortly before they leave office.

"The problem is many of these trips are really much more like paid vacations than fact-finding trips,” said Craig Holman, government affairs lobbyist for the good-government group Public Citizen.

“Then when you take a look at retiring members of Congress suddenly jetting around the globe, it really does have every appearance that they’re just in the last minute getting the most of what they can out of the perks of being a member of Congress,” Holman said.

In some cases, the public interest of the trips is obvious, as when Rep. Sander Levin, D-Mich. – who announced in December 2017 he was retiring – traveled to Canada and Mexico in early 2018 to participate in negotiations on a new North American Free Trade Agreement. Levin’s attendance on the two trips cost taxpayers $5,327. Rep. David Reichert, R- Wash., who announced his retirement in September 2017, attended the talks in Canada with Levin.

In most cases, however, there were no announcements by the members or other information made public on the trips taken by members after announcing their retirements.

Meredith McGehee, with the Campaign Legal Center, said that silence is not surprising.

Most members, she said, fear that their political opponents will exploit these trips by labeling them political junkets.

Dent’s trip came under the auspices of the House Appropriations Committee, where he served as chairman of the veterans and military construction subcommittee.

Dent ended up resigning on May 8 of this year and in June began as a senior policy adviser at the international law firm DLA Piper. He also serves as a political commentator for CNN.

Dent declined to comment for this story because, he said, he has an exclusivity agreement with CNN that prevents him from talking to other media.

Five retiring members traveled as members of congressional foreign affairs committees, including House committee chairman Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif. and Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as well as Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., and Reps. Darrell Issa, R-Calif. and Ted Poe, R-Texas.

Other prominent House members who have traveled after announcing their retirements include Republican Reps. Rodney Frelinghuysen, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee; Bob Goodlatte, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee; Lamar Smith, chairman of the House Science, Space & Technology Committee; and Bill Shuster, chairman of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee.

Royce's trip to Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in February was primarily focused on the committee’s efforts to confront threats from Iran and North Korea, said Cory Fritz with the committee. And, he pointed out that it was well-documented on the committee.'s website.

The spokesman for Shuster's committee said that his work as chairman "does not conclude until the end of this Congress."

In particular, Shuster has been focusing on finding innovative ways to finance the $1 trillion infrastructure plan being pushed by President Donald Trump and GOP congressional leaders, spokesman Justin Harclerode said. He said the trip to Australia allowed Shuster to learn firsthand about how the country funded infrastructure improvements using "asset recycling" – the selling or leasing of government facilities to raise revenue for other projects. He included the idea in a draft infrastructure bill he released last month.

In many cases, details of these taxpayer-financed trips by members of Congress are not generally available. And what is available in the Congressional Record can be hard to find.

That makes it difficult for the public to determine what are genuine fact-finding trips, said Holman of Public Citizen. “If we had full disclosure, that would help hold members accountable so that we could avoid junkets.”

Rep. Frank LoBiondo, R-N.J., who announced his retirement in November 2017, is listed in the Congressional Record as traveling to Asia in March 2018 at a cost of $14,968 under the auspices of the House Intelligence Committee.

Jason Galanes, his chief of staff, said that LoBiondo's trip was to China and South Korea and was in his role as the chairman of the committee's subcommittee on the CIA.

"Congressman LoBiondo's official duties did not end for the 115th Congress just because he announced his retirement," Galanes said.

McGehee of the Campaign Legal Center said it would be worth Congress considering more stringent travel rules for members who are about to leave office.

The danger, she said, is that some lame duck members may be traveling simply for fun as in "Hey, I’ve never been to Thailand."

Or they may be looking ahead to their next jobs and using the trips to make contacts that would help them.

“All of that to some degree depends on the good will of the public official,” she said.

Retiring members continue to travel

These members and former members traveled on taxpayer-financed trips after having announced they would leave Congress:

Former Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pa. former chairman of House ethics committee

Announced retirement: Sept. 7. Resigned May 2018 and in June became a a senior policy adviser for law firm DLA Piper and a contributor for CNN.

Travel: Oct. 15-20 to Italy, Belgium and Luxembourg.

Cost to taxpayers: $6,971

Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen, R-N.J., chairman of Appropriations Committee

Announced retirement: Jan. 29

Travel: Feb. 17-Feb. 25 to India, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand.

Cost to taxpayers: $23,158

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., member of Foreign Affairs Committee

Announced retirement: Jan. 10

Travel: Feb. 16-18 to Germany

Cost to taxpayers: $1,719

Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, member of Foreign Affairs Committee

Announced retirement: Nov. 7

Travel: March 2-4 to Moldova; May 25-28 to Poland

Cost to taxpayers: $26,467

Former Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Texas

Announced retirement: Dec. 14. Resigned April 6

Travel: Feb. 16-26 to Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and Laos.

Cost to taxpayers: $9,715

Rep. John Duncan Jr., R-Tenn.

Announced retirement: July 31, 2017

Travel: August 26-30, 2017, to Germany

Cost to taxpayers: $2,853

Rep. Frank LoBiondo, R-N.J.

Announced retirement: Nov. 7

Travel: March 24-30 to Asia.

Cost to taxpayers: Total of $14,968

Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., member of the Foreign Relations Committee

Announced retirement: Oct. 24

Travel: United Kingdom, Jordan, Israel and Greece; and a separate trip to Cuba both sometime between Jan. 1 and March 31.

Total cost to taxpayers: $7,761

Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., chairman of the House Judiciary Committee

Announced retirement: Nov. 9

Travel: Feb. 16-26 to Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and Laos.

Cost to taxpayers: $10,164

Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill.

Announced retirement: Nov. 28

Travel: Feb. 16-26 to Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and Laos.

Cost to taxpayers: $10,164

Rep. Ruben Kihuen, D-Nev.

Announced retirement: Dec. 16

Travel: Feb. 18-25 to Australia and New Zealand

Cost to taxpayers: $11,046

Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee

Announced retirement: Jan. 8

Travel: Feb. 17-24 to Egypt, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates

Cost to taxpayers: $16,311

Rep. Sander Levin, D-Mich.

Announced retirement: Dec. 2

Travel: Jan. 25-28 to Canada and March 2-4 to Mexico

Cost to taxpayers: $5,327

Rep. David Reichert, R-Wash.

Announced retirement: Sept. 6

Travel: Jan. 26-28 to Canada

Cost to taxpayers: $19,821

Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, chairman of the House Science, Space & Technology Committee

Announced retirement: Nov. 2

Travel: April 2-10 to Chile, Ecuador and Columbia

Cost to taxpayers: $2,546

Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pa., chairman of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee

Announced retirement: Jan. 2

Travel: April 3-8 to Australia and New Zealand

Cost to taxpayers: $1,969

Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee

Announced retirement: Sept. 26

Travel: Switzerland sometime between Jan. 1 and March 31

Cost to taxpayers: $15,784

TOTAL COST TO TAXPAYERS: $186,744