“Struggling” Sean Duffy Spends Thousands in Taxpayer Dollars Traveling Own District
Even though his family at one point had three homes in the Northwoods, federal disbursement reports show that Sean Duffy has stuck taxpayers with 27 hotel bills in his own district.
Buzzfeed today reported that Duffy, who recently compared the purchase of life-saving healthcare coverage to purchasing garden equipment, has attempted to defend his apparent waste of taxpayer resources.
Duffy, the former reality tee-vee star who has famously said he “struggles” on his $174,000 Congressional salary and whose family flies in sushi for Christmas, at one point in 2011 had three homes throughout the 7th Congressional District, yet has reimbursed himself thousands of dollars staying in hotels at taxpayer expense.
All told, Duffy has reimbursed himself $32,585.03 in taxpayer funds since coming to Congress.
Duffy’s reimbursements include the following, according to federal records [House Disbursements, 2011 Q1, 2011 Q2, 2011 Q3]:
- Office Supplies: $315.53
- Lodging: $2,737.79
- Private Auto Mileage: $10,658.24
- Taxi: $771.90
- Meals: $138.77
- Commercial Transportation: $16,898
- Travel Subsistence: $1064.80
“Congressman Duffy talks a lot about restricting government spending, but he continues to have taxpayers pick up his tab. This ‘struggling’ sushi-eating reality tee-vee star clearly doesn’t understand the challenges facing the people of North and Central Wisconsin and keeps making them pick up the tab for his cushy lifestyle,” Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Mike Tate said Friday. “He wants to make middle class families pay more in taxes and voucherize Medicare, while living large on the taxpayers’ dime. Congressman Duffy himself needs to explain to taxpayers why he thinks it’s okay to make them pick up the tab when he decides not to sleep at one of his many homes when he makes it back to Wisconsin.”
