GOP Rep. Nancy Mace is under investigation by the House Ethics Committee for allegedly making an attempt to revenue off of a congressional program supposed to defray housing costs for lawmakers’ Washington, DC, residences — a declare she has denied.
According to a newly printed report from the Office of Congressional Conduct, the South Carolina Republican sought and was paid roughly $9,500 past the precise costs of her residence in DC.
“There is substantial reason to believe that Rep. Mace engaged in improper reimbursement practices,” the nonpartisan watchdog group mentioned in its official referral to the House Ethics Committee. The ethics committee announced Monday it’s investigating the matter.
Mace was collaborating in a housing reimbursement program for members of Congress, which is meant to assist subsidize lodging, meals and journey bills for lawmakers who should keep households each in Washington and of their districts. The program has drawn intense scrutiny, because it doesn’t require detailed bills and has successfully given lawmakers who participate a serious pay bump.
Mace didn’t reply to inquiries from the Office of Congressional Conduct, in keeping with the report.
But a lawyer for Mace, William Sullivan, fiercely disputed the claims in a letter to the House ethics panel, calling the report “fundamentally flawed.”
The report’s narrative, Sullivan advised, gave the impression to be “influenced by Rep. Mace’s former fiancé,” who co-owned the house along with her.
Mace isn’t looking for reelection to the House and is operating in a aggressive GOP main to grow to be South Carolina’s subsequent governor.