The Senate is “planning to follow the House in posting office expenses on the Internet instead of in volumes that must to be purchased or viewed in Capitol office buildings,” the AP reports.
The idea, says Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., is to let people see what their lawmakers are doing with their taxpayer-funded office accounts — and hold their feet to the fire for questionable expenses.
“They’ve got it on computer. Just now make it available so everybody in the country can see it,” Coburn said. “So if you see something that doesn’t look right, you can hold us accountable.”
It’s expected to be added onto the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act (H.R. 2918).
Coburn’s move, expected to be approved Monday in a vote on a routine appropriations bill funding Congress’ own budget, would require office expenses be posted online. The House and Senate would have to pass a compromise final bill before the new rule would take effect.
Update: This proposal was offered as an amendment to the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act (H.R. 2918) by Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) and was adopted by Voice Vote.
