Congress’s #MeToo Slush Fund

It is one of the most blatant – and fraudulent – wastes of taxpayers’ money in American history. In fact, it’s so bad that even Daffy Duck would call it “despicable”… and yes, with a mouthful of saliva, too.

To what am I referring? The line item hidden deep within Congress’s annual budget that designates money to be used to settle lawsuits brought against senators and congress members for sexual harassment, racial or religious discrimination, or other civil rights violations.

In the real world, we would call that a “slush fund” to pay people off.

Welcome to the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995, sponsored by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and co-sponsored by 39 other senators (28 Republicans and 11 Democrats). It passed unanimously in the House (390-0), nearly unanimously in the Senate (98-1), and was signed into law on January 23, 1995, by President William Jefferson Clinton.

Imagine that… Bill Clinton signing a bill into law that established a congressional slush fund to pay victims of alleged sexual harassment, abuse, or assault to keep quiet. Shades of Paula Jones, to whom Slick Willie paid $850,000 in 1998 to go away.

Since the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 was passed, Congress – through the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights (OCWR) – has spent roughly $20 million of YOUR TAX DOLLARS AND MINE to silence staffers and other alleged victims. Attempts have been made to repeal this disastrous law, such as the Congressional Accountability and Hush Fund Elimination Act of 2017. It was sponsored by a little-known Republican congressman from Florida’s 6th district by the name of Ron DeSantis.

“Members of Congress and staff cannot live under special rules,” DeSantis said at the time. “The current system incentivizes misconduct and makes it difficult for victims. By exposing these secret settlements and by discontinuing using tax dollars to pay for member misconduct, this bill will reduce the incentive for bad behavior and bring more accountability to Congress.”

Sadly – and all too predictably – the bill died in committee. Subsequent bills, such as the Stop Settlement Slush Funds Act of 2023, did marginally better. Rep. Lance Gooden (R-TX) shepherded the bill through the House and then Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) sponsored the companion bill in the Senate. However, Chuck Schumer and the Democrat-led Senate allowed the legislation to linger and die there without a vote.

That, my friends, is a crying shame, because the Stop Settlement Slush Funds Act of 2023 was endorsed by the National Taxpayers Union, Americans for Tax Reform, and Americans for Prosperity. “For too long the Department of Justice has been misallocating settlement funds from civil suits to provide cash injections to political allies,” said Grover Norquist, President of Americans for Tax Reform.

And so, it appears that the number of taxpayer-funded settlements will continue to rise beyond the current 300 or so since 1995. That’s a lot of money spent – and a lot of dirt swept under the rug – all at taxpayers’ expense.

Perhaps emboldened by the federal precedent, the State of New York (actually its citizens) has been paying through the nose to settle the sexual misconduct allegations against former Gov. Andrew Cuomo to the tune of $60 million and counting. Undaunted and apparently unashamed, Cuomo is now running for mayor of New York City and if the polls are right, the forever duped and dumb voters of the Big Apple are about to hand him the keys to Gracie Mansion.

Meanwhile, Letitia “Tish” James, the Attorney General of New York State, has managed to talk the legislature into paying her legal expenses as she defends herself against real estate fraud allegations. A federal probe uncovered proof that James claimed Virginia as her primary residence to receive favorable mortgage terms… even though she is the Attorney General of the Empire State.

You can’t make this stuff up, folks!

Neither can you escape the irony of Ms. James being accused of real estate fraud a year after she filed similar charges against then former President Donald Trump for supposedly inflating the value of his real estate holdings to get better interest rates on a loan.

Karma, as they say, is a #$&%*.

And yet, the real victims in all of these shenanigans are the long-suffering taxpayers, who will once again be footing the bill… at least until Congress gets a conscience, grows a spine, and repeals the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995.

As for the citizens of New York State, you voted for these clowns and criminals, so you’re on your own.