Frugal Reps Put the Home in House

As many as 40 sleep in Hill offices, shower in the House gym
By Gabriel Winant,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 19, 2008 3:32 PM CST
Frugal Reps Put the Home in House
Jason Chaffetz, an incoming Utah Republican, bought a $45 cot he plans to sleep on in his Capitol Hill office, part of a commitment to frugal government.   (AP Photo)

Having made their electoral beds on promises of fiscal responsibility, some lawmakers are now sleeping in them—in their Capitol Hill offices, Politico reports. Incoming Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz plans to bunk on a $45 cot: “When they give me a terrible office up on the seventh floor, I’ll chalk it up as the penthouse, and I won’t have noisy neighbors above me.”

Congressional staffers aren’t exactly eager to out their bosses as high-powered hobos, so nobody knows how many representatives sleep in their office. Outgoing Rep. Tim Walberg says that, based on the number he saw showering in the congressional health club in the morning, as many as 40 sleep in their offices.
(More Congress stories.)

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