Last month, it seemed Jason Chaffetz, the chair of the House Oversight Committee, was in an existential rut. With no Democratic presidents to investigate, and three-plus years of Benghazi evidence sitting in a corner collecting dust, the Utah Republican was struggling to find his bearings after preparing for years to investigate, and possibly impeach, Hillary Clinton. But with fellow Republican Donald Trump in the White House—he of the Kremlingate imbroglio, tangled business interests, and allegations of sexual harassment—Chaffetz has seemed listless, half-heartedly launching only minor investigations into the White House, while declining to look into any larger scandals. Two weeks ago, Chaffetz abruptly announced that he would not run for re-election in 2018, and might even retire early. Days later, he disappeared for a sudden, major foot surgery, explaining that he might not return for weeks.

And then Barack Obama gave a $400,000 speech to a Wall Street bank, and lo, Chaffetz’s life suddenly has renewed meaning. The Utah congressman had already hobbled back to Washington to vote on a G.O.P. health-care bill that would strip protections for pre-existing conditions like his foot problem. But it seems he is just as worked up about the former president’s speech. Years earlier, Obama vetoed a bill, authored by Chaffetz, that proposed cutting former presidents’ pensions if they made over $400,000 a year in outside income—precisely the amount of money that Obama received from financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald. “The Obama hypocrisy on this issue is revealing,” Chaffetz told USA Today. “His veto was very self-serving.”

At the time, the bill had bipartisan support from Rep. Elijah Cummings, Chaffetz’s Democratic counterpart on the Oversight Committee. Under Chaffetz’s proposal, presidents earning more than $400,000 annually would have their presidential pension slashed to $200,000, with an extra $200,000 to pay for staff. This is far less than what former presidents and their widows are currently entitled to—an amount, according to the Congressional Research Service, that can reach up to $1.1 million per year (for George W. Bush). But Chaffetz is not being entirely honest about Obama’s “hypocrisy.” When he vetoed the bill last year, Obama explained that he had consulted the living former presidents, who were all in agreement that the bill would have “unintended consequences,” preventing staffers from immediately receiving pay and benefits after following the president into private life, and possibly affecting their Secret Service protection. He suggested that Congress make several technical fixes and send the bill back to him to sign, but they never did.

Now, inspired by Obama’s lucrative post-presidency (which includes a reported $60 million book deal), Chaffetz says he wants to push the bill once again.

All told, the 2017 budget submitted by Obama last year requested $3.865 million for former presidents’ expenditures, a seemingly unnecessary amount for an elite club that can command hundreds of thousands of dollars for a night of speaking. Then again, taxpayers are currently paying hundreds of millions of dollars to fund the billionaire Trump family’s opulent lifestyle, so perhaps it helps to keep some perspective.