https://hotair.com/ed-morrissey/2009/08/12/members-of-congress-get-rich-on-travel-through-huge-per-diems/feed/HotAir is the leading conservative blog for breaking news and commentary covering the Biden administration, politics, media, culture, and current elections.en-usThu, 23 Apr 2026 13:07:11 -0400<![CDATA[After getting a hailstorm of criticism for its plans to buy more private jets for its own members, Congress has moved to dump the new Gulfstream orders it included in the 2010 budget bill.  However, as John Fund reports for the Wall Street Journal, that actually was the milder travel scandal to come out of this session.  Travel junkets have become wildly popular with members of Congress not just for the lure of travel, but because taxpayers provide these politicians with hefty per diems while traveling.  Some lawmakers can pocket up to $3,000 a trip in cash, thanks to a system that doesn&#8217;t require itemization and rarely demands refunds of unused cash:]]>Wed, 12 Aug 2009 10:11:18 -0400<![CDATA[Ed Morrissey]]>https://hotair.com/ed-morrissey/2009/08/12/members-of-congress-get-rich-on-travel-through-huge-per-diems-n163772