Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and over 200 Congress members have been using taxpayer funds to pay their apartment rent, according to a new report from the Free Beacon.
Many of said members have net worths of $1 million or more. Their apartments are being paid with funds separate from their base salaries, which are currently at $174,000 for most members of the House of Representatives. The exceptions include the Speaker ($223,500), President pro tempore of the Senate ($193,400) and the majority and minority leaders in the House and Senate (salary of $193,400).
The ability to siphon off extra taxpayer dollars to fund their D.C. living accommodations was voted into law in 2021, just before Democrats lost their House majority in the 2022 midterms. The new provision permits politicians to access an optional $34,000 subsidiary fund to cover their housing and meal expenses. AOC has taken advantage of $8,700 in the first half of 2023, according to records.
A total of 113 Democrats and 104 Republicans have used the program, expending $1.4 million on their apartments and dining in the first half of this year, according to Free Beacon’s calculation of recently published disbursement records.
Among the recipients were at least 17 Democrats that qualify as millionaires including Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA) and House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-MA), who reported net worths of $1.8 million and $13.5 million respectively.
NEW: Your tax dollars are paying for AOC's luxury DC apartment thanks to a new House rule Democrats quietly passed late last year.
Over 200 members of Congress — 113 Democrats and 104 Republicans — have billed taxpayers this year for their DC rent under the new program. This… pic.twitter.com/mubdtqpPjh
— Andrew Kerr (@AndrewKerrNC) November 2, 2023
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AOC has long been a vocal proponent of the legislation. When the prominent socialist first got to Washington in 2018, she complained to the New York Times about her inability to afford rent before her $174,000 salary kicked in.
“I have three months without a salary before I’m a member of Congress. So, how do I get an apartment? Those little things are very real,” she said.
On a different occasion, Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL) complained on Twitter that he was denied an apartment due to his bad credit. “This ain’t meant for people who don’t already have money,” he wrote. “Been there,” AOC replied. “This is one of many ways Congress structures itself to exclude and push out the few working class people who *do* get elected. These systems are built for people who can lean on wealth. It’s shocking how detached from reality a lot of the details are – but I got you!”
Since taking office in 2019, AOC has notably been renting a unit in an apartment complex built on top of a Whole Foods that includes a rooftop pool, an indoor lap pool, a rooftop dog park and dog wash station, multiple gyms including Peloton and yoga studios, an indoor golf simulator, a community kitchen with a wood-fired pizza oven, private massage rooms, a basketball court, a racquetball court, and a rooftop tennis court. When criticized for living in a luxury apartment, AOC said such luxuries shouldn’t be seen as luxuries and should be available to all.
“Another world is possible” she said, “We can live in buildings that are not-for-profit, or tenant-owned, there are so many ways we can slice this and we can structure it in a way where all people have the right to a dignified home.” She went on: “”What we have been taught and what we have been conditioned is that basic rights are a luxury and a privilege when they are not.”
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