Travel for Personal Purposes - House Committee on Ethics

VII. Travel for Personal Purposes

Travel Paid for by Relatives

You may accept travel offered by a relative.[39]

[39] House Rule 25, cl. 5(a)(3)(C). “Relative” means your father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, great aunt, great uncle, first cousin, nephew, niece, husband, wife, grandfather, grandmother, grandson, granddaughter, father-in-law, mother-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, stepfather, stepmother, stepson, stepdaughter, stepbrother, stepsister, half-brother, half-sister, the grandfather or grandmother of your spouse, or your fiancé(e). 5 U.S.C. app. § 109(16). This list is a much more exhaustive than the list of relatives that may accompany you on privately-sponsored, officially-connected travel. For that list, please see the Committee’s Travel Regulations.

If, however, your relative is only the conduit, meaning another entity offers you travel, but through your relative, the gift would still come from the other entity. In that instance, you may not rely on the gift exception for gifts from a relative. But, you may be able to accept the travel under a different gift exception.

Travel Offered on the Basis of Personal Friendship

Personal friends may offer to pay for your travel expenses for personal purposes. Personal purposes do not include conducting House business or campaign activity.

Just like with other gifts of personal friendship, if the travel is more than $250, you must write in to the Committee for formal permission to accept the gift. If the travel is $250 or less, you may determine for yourself that your friend offered it based on personal friendship. The Committee expects you to use the same criteria the Committee does to determine if the offer was made based on personal friendship.[40] When determining the value for travel, you should look at the trip as a whole. Consider the transportation and any lodging or meals not covered by the personal hospitality exception.

[40] Specifically you should consider 1) the nature of your relationship, including any previous exchanges of gifts; 2) whether your friend will use personal funds to pay for the trip; and 3) whether your friend made the same offer to any other Member, officer, or employee. House Rule 25, cl. 5(a)(3) (D). Gifts offered because of your official position, or where your friend will be seeking a tax deduction or business reimbursement, are not gifts offered based on personal friendship. Id.

If you file financial disclosure statements and you accept a trip based on personal friendship that is above the reporting threshold, you must report that trip on Schedule G (“Gifts”) of your annual statement.

Lodging and Meals under Personal Hospitality

You may accept lodging and meals in someone’s home in certain circumstances.[41] The home or building may not belong to a registered federal lobbyist or foreign agent.[42] Additionally, the home or building may not be used for business purposes, including for official meetings or if the residents rent out the home for vacation rentals.

[41] Gifts of personal hospitality include lodging and meals “extended for a nonbusiness purpose by an individual, not a corporation or organization, at the personal residence of that individual or his family or on property or facilities owned by that individual or his family,” where the individual is not a registered federal lobbyist or foreign agent. 5 U.S.C. app. § 109(14); House Rule 25, cl. 5(a)(3)(P).

[42] The Committee looks to who resides in the home. For example, if someone is renting an apartment or house, the renter may not be a lobbyist or foreign agent, regardless of who may own that building. If, however, the home is owner-occupied, then the owner of the home may not be a lobbyist or foreign agent.

This exception only applies to staying in the home and meals eaten in the home. The exception does not apply to going out to dinner while staying at someone’s house. A meal outside the home would need to meet a different gift exception.

Travel for Professional Development Opportunities or Fellowships

You may be able to participate in professional development or fellowship opportunities that pay for travel expenses or scholarships. Common examples of professional development and fellowships include

Young Leaders programs
Continuing education opportunities
Networking opportunities
Exchange programs

Travel that is completely unrelated to your House employment is discussed in Travel Related to Outside Activities.

If your House position was a factor in the decision to offer you travel for professional development or a fellowship, you must write in to the Committee and receive formal permission to accept the travel expenses.[43] Examples of your House position potentially being a factor include

[43] If you cannot say for certain that your House employment was not a factor in the decision- making process, then the gift exception for travel related to outside activities would not apply. See, e.g., House Rule 25, cl. 5(a)(3)(G)(i) (allowing food, refreshments, lodging, transportation, and other benefits for outside business or employment activities if not offered or enhanced because of the Member, officer, or employee’s official position). The Committee may be able to give you a waiver of the gift rule to accept the opportunity. House Rule 25, cl. 5(a)(3)(T).

Submitting your resume with your application
Listing your House position on an application
Being nominated by someone you’ve worked with officially
Submitting letters of a recommendation from a Member, officer, or employee with your application

The Committee recommends you request approval as soon as the program’s sponsor offers to pay for your expenses to ensure the Committee has sufficient time to review your request.

Travel to Attend Charity Fundraisers

You may be able to accept lodging and transportation in connection with a charity fundraiser. To accept, the event and the offer of travel expenses must meet the following criteria.

All of the net proceeds of the event must benefit a § 501(c)(3) organization,
The transportation and lodging expenses must be paid by the benefitting 501(c)(3) organization, and
The offer to attend the event must be extended by the benefitting § 501(c)(3) organization.[44]

[44] House Rule 25, cl. 5(a)(4)(C)(i)-(iii).

You may generally accept expenses that are reasonably necessary to participate in the event. Generally that means you may accept one night’s lodging.

You may only accept transportation and lodging expenses directly from the benefitting § 501(c)(3) organization, not from a sponsor of or participant at the fundraiser. Additionally, you may not accept transportation and lodging expenses from the § 501(c)(3) organization if those expenses would be paid for using donations that are earmarked for congressional participants.[45]

[45] The prohibition on the § 501(c)(3) organization using funds earmarked for congressional participants includes funds that are formally and informally earmarked for the payment of expenses related to congressional participants. Consistent with this interpretation, for example, a Member, officer, or employee traveling to a charity event under these rules may not accept a flight on a corporate aircraft that is flying corporate officials to the event, even if the charity reimburses the corporation for the flight. Aside from concerns on whether a corporation may lawfully accept such a reimbursement under Federal Aviation Administration regulations, a donor to a charity event should have no role in providing travel to a participating Member, officer, or employee.

Although organizations that are not § 501(c)(3) organizations may organize events that meet the charity fundraiser exception to accept an offer of free attendance and a meal, those non-§ 501(c)(3) event organizers could not pay for your travel expenses under this exception.[46]

[46] House Rule 25, cl. 5(a)(4)(C). As discussed in the Gifts section of the Committee’s guidance, you may accept an offer of free attendance at a charity fundraiser, as long as you are invited by the event organizer directly and the event is to benefit an organization qualified under § 170(c) of the Internal Revenue Code. Free attendance includes waiver of the ticket price; the food, refreshments, and entertainment at the event; local transportation; and a second ticket for a guest of your choosing. Therefore, it is possible to accept free attendance at an event but not be able to accept an offer of long-distance transportation and lodging for that same event.

Example. You are invited to a charity fundraiser in another city. The event organizer is a corporate sponsor, but the event will benefit an organization that is recognized under § 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. The event organizer offers to pay for your airfare and lodging to participate in the event. Although you may accept the offer of free attendance, you may not accept the transportation and lodging expenses because the event organizer is not a § 501(c)(3) organization.

Example. A nationally-recognized charity is having its annual gala in another city. The charity offers you two tickets to the fundraiser and lodging and airfare to attend the event. The charity also offers lodging and airfare to your spouse. You and your spouse may accept the lodging and airfare, in addition to the offer of free attendance at the event.

Travel to Accept Honorary Degrees

If you are offered an honorary degree, you may also accept travel expenses that may be offered for the degree’s presentation.[47] The travel expenses you may accept include transportation, lodging, meals, refreshments, and entertainment.

[47] House Rule 15, cl. 5(a)(3)(K). Although the rule allows you to accept bona fide non-monetary public service awards, the rule only allows you to accept travel expenses related to honorary degrees.

Travel Related to Outside Activities

If you are offered travel that is unrelated to your official position, you may be able to accept the offer if it was not offered or enhanced because of your position with the House.[48]

[48] House Rule 25, cl. 5(a)(3)(G).

Outside Activities. You may accept travel expenses related to your outside activities.[49] The travel expenses must be the same that are offered to others similarly situated.

[49] House Rule 25, cl. 5(a)(3)(i).

Example. You are on the board of a charitable organization. Each quarter the charitable organization pays for its board members to travel to its headquarters for the quarterly board meeting. All of the board members are offered the same travel expenses. You may accept those travel expenses.

Example. You recently wrote and published a book. The Committee approved your publishing contract.[50] Now your publisher is planning a book tour to promote your book and will pay for your travel expenses. The publisher plans to pay for the same travel expenses it would for any other author of similar fame and stature. You may accept those travel expenses.

[50] As discussed in the Outside Activity section of the Committee’s guidance, the Committee must review and approve publishing contracts for Members and senior staff. Staff who are not paid at the senior staff rate do not need Committee approval of a publishing contract, but may still accept travel expenses to promote the book, as long as those travel expenses are not offered or enhanced because of the staff’s House position and are the same expenses offered to other similarly situated authors. Members and senior staff who may have written books prior to joining the House may also accept travel expenses to promote their books, if the offer conforms with all of the same requirements. Travel expenses, whether reimbursed or paid upfront, are not the same as honoraria. Members and senior staff still may not accept honorarium, regardless of the source or purpose. House Rule 25, cl. 1(a)(2). Staff who are not senior staff are also restricted in their ability to accept honoraria. Id.

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Example. Same example as before, but you would like to stay a few extra days before returning home. You may extend your trip if the publisher allows other similarly-situated authors to extend their travel on similar terms.

Example. Your child is a scout. All of the local scout troops are going to the Grand Canyon for a weeklong trip. The regional scout organization offers to pay your airfare if you will chaperone the scouts during the trip. You may accept those travel expenses.

If you file annual financial disclosure statements, you must report these travel expenses on Schedule H (“Travel Payments and Reimbursements”) if the value of the travel expenses exceeds the reporting threshold.

Prospective Employers. You may accept travel expenses from a prospective employer that are customarily provided by that employer for bona fide employment discussions.[51] If you file annual financial disclosure statements, you must report these travel expenses on Schedule H (“Travel Payments and Reimbursements”) if the value of the travel expenses exceeds the reporting threshold.[52]

[51] House Rule 25, cl. 5(a)(3)(G)(ii).

[52] Even if you accept the prospective employer’s offer of employment, you would still need to report those travel expenses on your annual or termination financial disclosure statement, if the travel expenses were accepted while you were still on House payroll and exceed the reporting threshold.

Accompanying Spouses. You may accept travel expenses to accompany your spouse on trips related to your spouse’s employment or outside activities.[53]

[53] House Rule 25, cl. 5(a)(3)(G)(iii).

Example. Your spouse is a lawyer with a private law firm. Each year, the firm invites all of its lawyers and their spouses to a weekend retreat at a resort hotel. This retreat is offered to your spouse regardless of who you are. You may accompany your spouse and accept the law firm’s payment of travel expenses.

Example. Your spouse is a flight attendant with an airline that offers free travel all of its employees and their immediate families when seats are available. You may accept the free flights.

[54] To determine value when accompanying spouses, you should look to the extra expenses the outside organization paid on your behalf. For example, if your spouse’s company would have paid for a hotel room whether you went on the trip or not, the hotel room is not a gift to you. However, your airfare, your meals, and any additional expenses related to the lodging would need to be added to determine whether the value exceeds the reporting threshold. You may include a comment on your financial disclosure statement that you accompanied your spouse.

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House Ethics Manual 2022 Edition