WHO: U.S. House of Representatives WHAT: According to a Los Angeles Times report, House members paid an average bonus of $4,000 to staffers last year.
WHY IT’S AN OUTRAGE: This money comes from each House office’s roughly $1.5 million allocation for salary, travel and other expenses. If unspent, it goes back to the Treasury. In the middle of a budget crisis, House members spent $21.5 million more on office payrolls for the fourth quarter than they did in the previous three quarters. It is a common practice on the Hill for losing members to spend down their accounts and for others to pad the salaries of exiting staffers so that they can demand more money from their next employers.
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