Some Congressmen are sleeping in their offices because they say they can’t afford to rent or buy property in Washington, D.C., and its environs on a Congressional salary.
Part of the problem, they claim, is that the base congressional salary of $174,000 has remained unchanged for a decade, and hasn’t kept pace with the rising cost of D.C. living.
“Washington is too expensive,” said Rep. Dan Donovan, R-N.Y., according to the New York Post.
He claims the cot he keeps in his small office alcove is why he is able to pay escalating New York City housing costs and still serve his district in Congress.
“If we go to the point where you have to rent or have to buy [in DC], then only millionaires would be members of Congress,’’ he said. “I don’t think that was the intent of our Founding Fathers.”
According to the Post, those who turn their offices to bedrooms each evening include House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and New York Reps. Donovan and Republican Lee Zeldin.
Zeldin, a military veteran, said efficiency is what led him to sleep on a bed he stores in his office closet.
“It must be the Army in me,” Zeldin told the Post. “Literally, from the moment I wake up from the moment I go to sleep, I’m just working without distraction. It’s just the way I’m wired.”
Some of the squatters’ colleagues want to see the practice banned, claiming that it’s unsanitary and undignified for a member of Congress, and have gone so far as to propose legislation to ban the practice.
“Look, it’s unhealthy. It’s nasty. I wouldn’t want to be entertained in somebody’s bedroom,” said Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., who is among those spearheading the effort, the Post reported.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.