Legislative Branch Disbursements and Expenditures
The Legislative Branch includes the House of Representatives, the Senate and support agencies like the Architect of the Capitol (AOC), US Capitol Police (USCP), Government Publishing Office (GPO), Library of Congress (LOC) and others. For years the House has published quarterly statements, and the Senate has published semiannual statements that report internal statements. In 2009, the House started publishing statements online, albeit in an abbreviated format. The Senate reports started to be published online in 2011. Federal law requires the USCP and AOC to submit a Statement of Disbursements to the House Clerk, but these documents are not always publicly available.
The following provides background and resources regarding these publications. None of these documents take advantage of spreadsheets, instead publishing the tables as a large PDF file which makes analyzing this information time consuming and difficult.
- House of Representatives website -- PDF format: http://disbursements.house.gov/
- Sunlight Foundation's website -- spreadsheet format: http://sunlightfoundation.com/projects/expenditures/
- Government Printing Office -- hardcopy available for purchase from GPO, entitled "Statement of Disbursements of the House, From January 1, 2010 to March 31, 2010" (House Document 111-102)
The rules regarding the publication of House and Senate Expenditure reports is detailed in 2 USC 104a. (link)
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"House Office Expenditures Finally Go Online", Wall Street Journal (11/30/2009)
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"House's New Financial Reports Drop Data", Roll Call (12/2/2009)
- Government Printing Office -- hardcopy or microform available for purchase from GPO, entitled "Report of the Secretary of the Senate, From April 1, 2009 to September 1, 2009" (Senate Document 111-8)
- Senate digital release of expenses in PDF format beginning in 2011.
- Senate Finally Publishes Its Spending Online, But Could Do Much Better, November 3, 2011
The rules regarding the publication of House and Senate Expenditure reports is detailed in 2 USC 104a. (link)
The Legislative Appropriations Act for FY 2010 (http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:hr2918.enr: link--search for "reporting requirement"]) added paragraph 6, requiring the Clerk of the Senate to publish online a searchable, itemized expenditure report. It says, in full:
REPORTING REQUIREMENT Sec. 2. Section 105(a) of the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act 1965 (Public Law 88-454; 2 U.S.C. 104a) is amended-- (1) in the last sentence of paragraph (1), by striking
shall' and insertingmay'; and (2) by adding at the end the following:(6) Beginning with the report covering the first full semiannual period of the 112th Congress, the Secretary of the Senate--(1) shall publicly post on-line on the website of the Senate each report in a searchable, itemized format as required under this section;(2) shall issue each report required under this section in electronic form; and(3) may issue each report required under this section in other forms at the discretion of the Secretary of the Senate.'.
These are filed with Congress but not available on a congressional website. Most prior years can be found at govinfo.gov (AOC has more statements available than USCP).
2 U.S. Code § 1868a. Semiannual report of disbursements
(a) Reports required
Not later than 60 days after the last day of each semiannual period, the Architect of the Capitol shall submit to Congress, with respect to that period, a detailed, itemized report of the disbursements for the operations of the Office of the Architect of the Capitol.
These are filed with Congress but not available on a congressional website. Some prior years were found at govinfo.gov and one on Google Books. There is no consistent source for these statements. We know, however, that these reports have been sent regularly to the Committee on House Administration.
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Executive Communication EC5603 116th Congress transmitting Statement of Disbursements of the U.S. Capitol Police for the period April 1, 2020 through September 30, 2020
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Executive Communication EC4283 116th Congress transmitting Statement of Disbursements of the U.S. Capitol Police for the period October 1, 2019 through March 31, 2020
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A letter from the Director, Office of Financial Management, United States Capitol Police, transmitting Statement Of Disbursements of the U.S. Capitol Police for the period April 1, 2019 through September 30, 2019, pursuant to 2 U.S.C. 1910(a) and Executive Communication EC3094 116th Congress transmitting Statement Of Disbursements of the U.S. Capitol Police for the period April 1, 2019 through September 30, 2019
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Executive Communication EC1061 116th Congress transmitting the Statement of Disbursements for the United States Capitol Police for the period of October 1, 2018 through March 31, 2019
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Executive Communication EC6892 115th Congress transmitting the Statement of Disbursements for the United States Capitol Police for the period of April 1, 2018 through September 30, 2018
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STATEMENT OF DISBURSEMENTS OF THE U.S. CAPITOL POLICE FOR THE PERIOD OCTOBER 1, 2017 THROUGH MARCH 31, 2018 and Executive Communication EC4910 115th Congress transmitting the Statement of Disbursements for the United States Capitol Police for the period of October 1, 2017, through March 31, 2018
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Executive Communication EC3191 115th Congress transmitting the Statement of Disbursements for the United States Capitol Police for the period of April 1, 2017 through September 30, 2017
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Executive Communication EC1408 115th Congress transmitting the Statement of Disbursements for the United States Capitol Police for the period of October 1, 2016 through March 31, 2017
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Executive Communication EC7477 115th Congress transmitting Statement Of Disbursements of the U.S. Capitol Police for the period April 1, 2016, through September 30, 2016
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Executive Communication EC5379 114th Congress 115th Congress transmitting the Statement of Disbursements for the United States Capitol Police for the period of October 1, 2015 through March 31, 2016
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Executive Communication EC3482 114th Congress 115th Congress transmitting the Statement of Disbursements for the United States Capitol Police for the period April 1, 2015 through September 30, 2015
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Executive Communication EC1649 114th Congress transmitting the Board's 2014 Year in Review which provides a synopsis of the Board's many short- and long-term initiatives and highlights the achievements of the Board
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Executive Communication EC1503 114th Congress transmitting the Statement of Disbursements for the United States Capitol Police for the period of October 1, 2014 through March 31, 2015
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Executive Communication EC3798 transmitting the Board's 2019 Year in Review which provides a synopsis of the Board's many short- and long-term initiatives and highlights the achievements of the Board
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Executive Communication EC5664 114th Congress transmitting the Board's 2015 Year in Review which provides a synopsis of the Board's many short- and long-term initiatives and highlights the achievements of the Board
2 U.S. Code § 1910. Report of disbursements
(a) In general
Not later than 60 days after the last day of each semiannual period, the Chief of the Capitol Police shall submit to Congress, with respect to that period, a detailed, itemized report of the disbursements for the operations of the United States Capitol Police.
We reviewed statutory provisions for the following agencies to find additional legal requirements for reporting disbursements. We found none for the following agencies (relevant statutes below). If we missed an agency or requirement to report disbursements, please let us know at maggi@demandprogress.org.
2 U.S. Code CHAPTER 5—LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
44 U.S. Code CHAPTER 3—GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
31 U.S. Code CHAPTER 7—GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE
2 U.S. Code CHAPTER 17—CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE
The following is a list of subject matter on which disbursement data-driven stories could be told. A contextualization of some of these items can lead to greater understanding of the workings of congress; other can be confusing or misleading.
Congressional Staff
(a) Comparisons of pay:
by title
- Congress Staffers get Raise in Bad Economy WSBTV, 2010
- What's the Average Staff Pay OpenHouse Project, 2009
by gender
- Obama’s alleged pay gap LegiStorm blog, 2008
against private sector
- Staff pay frozen in time Politico, 2010
(b) Retention rates
- High office turnover rate The Hill, 2008
(c) Which staff are connected to which members
(d) Revolving door (staffer to lobbyist; lobbyist to staffer)
- From Hired Guns to hired hands Center for Responsive Politics, 2011
- Staff salaries set to avoid lobbying ban? Open House Project, 2009
- Lobbyists Take Pay Cut The Hill, 2011
(e) Multiple Payments (campaigns, etc)
- Aide gets millions from Comcast Politico, 2011
- Staffers Moonlight for cash Politico, 2010
(f) End of year bonuses? Overtime?
- Staffer Bonus Pay Stamford Advocate, 2011
- No Dollar Left Behind The Hill, 2007
(g) Member retirement bonuses to staff
- Final days for splurging Legistorm 2011
(h) end-of-year procurement
- Payday for some staffers WSJ, 2011
(i) hiring family members, friends, campaign staff, lobbyist relations
- Lawmaker Spends on Girlfriend Legistorm, 2010
- Records flesh out detail about Baucus’ relationship with staffer Legistorm, 2009
- John Boehner adds lobbyist to staff Politico, 2010
(j) which staff are connected to other staff
(k) who is considered a senior staff who must file additional disclosure forms
Office expenses
(a) Compare travel costs
- Congress’ Travel Tab Swells WSJ, 2009
- Who are the top travelers? Center for Public Integrity, 2006
(b) Travel boondoggles
- Senator returns money for chartered flights Politico, 2011
- Travel Reports Understand Cost WSJ, 2009
- Congress Travels, Public Pays WSJ, 2009
(c) compare mail (USPS vs. FedEx vs. UPS)
(d) cell phone usage
(e) inappropriate expenses (overcharges, bogus charges, cheaper sourced products)
(f) political liability expenses
- Pelosi's flowers Politico, 2009
- Bottled water The Hill, 2011
- Republican freshman spending Politico, 2011
(g) look at where bulk/ percentage of offices expenses go
- Individual Member Office Expenses chron.com, 2010
(h) expenses for transportation (e.g. car leases, purchases)
- Congressman pays government back after story about car lease The Hill, 2010
(i) Buy american
- Senator Demands gift shop flags be made in America The Hill, 2011
Other stories
(a) leadership expense funds
- Leadership expense funds not being cut Roll Call, 2011
- Speaker’s Monthly Tab Roll Call, 2011
(b) former speakers allocation
- Former Speaker Haster’s perk costs taxpayers $1 million Chicago Tribune, 2010
Transformative uses
(a) house staff directory
- House Staff Directory Sunlight Foundation
- FindtheBest Staff Directory