In 2010, members, committees and other offices of the U.S. House of Representatives spent more than $1.36 billion on salaries, benefits, office equipment, travel, consultants and other expenses. Of that, the largest expense--about $1 billion--was for salaries and benefits, followed by spending on rent and communication costs, technology and related maintenance costs.
Nine of the ten biggest spenders were Democrats, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former members Dana Titus, D-Nev., Scott Murphy, D-N.Y., and Mary Jo Kilroy, D-Ohio. Half of the top ten spenders were from California.
Lawmakers do not pay out of their member representational allowances--the sum each member of Congress receives to pay for staff and official expenses--for the offices in the Capitol Hill buildings that are assigned to them, but do pay for rent, utilities and communication such as phone bills in their district offices, a sum that amounts to $76 million, a Sunlight Foundation analysis of the statements of disbursements released recently by the House shows. Some of the biggest spenders on rent and communications included Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Rep. Jim Gerlach, R-Pa., and Rep. Madeleine Bordallo, D-Guam.
Some $37 million of the money was spent on "non-technology service contracts" which went to individuals, companies and some big name contractors such as Booz Allen Hamilton and SAIC. While another $35 million was spent on technology related expenses including tech maintenance and web hosting.
Here's a look at the lawmakers spending the most:
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