Democrats are leading the House in actually using their 2023 Members' Representational Allowances, according to a LegiStorm analysis.
Democratic personal offices spent an average of 5.5% more than Republicans in the first three months of the year, a difference of about $20,500 per office. The average personal office spent 17.9% of its total annual funds in Q1, according to LegiStorm data. That puts the average office on track to spend only 73.7% of their budgets by year's end, leaving an average of $507,600 unspent per office.
But the two highest spenders, Reps. Scott Peters (D-Calif.) and Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.), are each on pace to spend more than their annual Members' Representational Allowance. Their offices used 25.4% and 25.2% of their budgets, respectively, in three months. Each spent several times the House average on constituent mailings.
Only one Republican - Rep. Matt Gaetz (Fla) - cracked the list of the top 10 highest spenders. In addition to Peters and Ruppersberger, Reps. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), then-Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) made up the rest of the top spenders. Pelosi, Hoyer and Clyburn's high expenses are likely due to them each vacating majority leadership positions in January and shifting some staff and resources to personal offices.
Freshman Reps. Greg Casar (D-Texas), Shri Thanedar (D-Mich.) and Aaron Bean (R-Fla.) each disclosed spending less than 10% of their budgets. It's not uncommon for members, especially those new into their first term, to report expenses after the quarterly deadline.
