Congressional Perks: Senate spending skyrockets by more than 40% in last few years

Spending in U.S. senators’ office accounts spiked by 43% since 2020, with big jumps in 2022 and the last fiscal year for senators to pay their staff, travel and other expenses, an investigation by The Center Square found.

In 2020, the U.S. Senate office account was spending less than half a billion dollars, but that has since increased by nearly $200 million, an analysis of data provided by the American Governance Institute and other online data shows.

Overall Senate spending that includes the office accounts but also expenses for leadership, committees, security and operations was about $1.5 billion, increasing as much as 50% since 2020.

The $1.5 billion overall spending included a litany of staff positions that government watchdogs questioned, such as a chaplain who has his own chief of staff and communications director, dozens of door keepers, picture framers, telephone operators, barbers, wellness resources staff and furniture artisans.

Included in the office account spending was at least $1 mill...