President Donald Trump’s January inauguration became a pared-down affair due to freezing weather, but that didn’t stop the office of Oregon’s lone Republican congressman from spending big on the three-day weekend.
The office of Oregon’s U.S. Rep. Cliff Bentz, a Republican representing the state’s 2nd Congressional District, spent more than any other member, or their office, of the U.S. House of Representatives on travel during the inaugural weekend. That includes airfare, lodging, meals and rideshares reimbursed from his taxpayer-funded congressionally allocated budget.
Bentz’s staffers spent six times the average amount their peers in House offices spent over the weekend on all travel expenses — more than $20,000 — and nearly four times the average amount House members or their staff spent when accounting for lodging alone — more than $16,000. That’s according to a Capital Chronicle analysis of quarterly disbursement reports posted to the U.S. House of Representatives website.
Bentz’s spokesperson, Alexia Spentzas, said in an email that some of the larger travel expenses are because Bentz hosted an annual, in-person legislative planning session with all of his staff in January, “which overlapped with the opportunity to attend the inauguration of the 47th president.” She did not provide a list of staff invited to attend the planning session, or what hotels or short-term rentals they stayed in on the office’s dime.
In the months that followed the inauguration, Bentz was outspoken about reining in government spending, including telling CNN’s Jake Tapper a month after the inauguration, as the government cut thousands of federal jobs — including many in Bentz’s district — that he would support cutting his own staff to protect taxpayer dollars.
“I think everybody has to step up. The Constitution requires that we protect our nation for posterity. We’re not doing it,” he told Tapper. “I’m doing the constitutional hard work of trying to figure out how to shrink our budget down to a point that is somehow sustainable and if that requires that kind of reduction of our staff, so be it.”
Kate Titus, executive director of the pro-democracy nonprofit Common Cause Oregon, said high travel costs over the inauguration require more transparency from Bentz’s office.
“I would expect we might see somewhat higher spending by congressional offices from one party or the other to attend the inauguration of a president from their own party,” Titus said. “That said, the spending you’ve identified does seem shockingly high.”
The receipts
Bentz’s office reimbursed four staffers — chief of staff Nick Strader and Oregon-based field representatives Bern Anderes, Wyndess James and Joey Minear — for about $20,750 worth of hotels, meals and rideshares between Friday, Jan. 17 and Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. The inauguration took place Monday, Jan. 20.
That’s more than six times the average spent on travel among other members of the House that weekend from their office budgets — other members’ expenses averaged about $2,546. Some members of Congress use their personal or campaign accounts for travel, but Bentz’s campaign finance records from inauguration weekend don’t reflect such spending.
The four staffers billed for nearly $16,300 worth of lodging over four days, between Jan. 19 and Jan. 22 — more than three times as much as the average expensed by the other representatives’ who reimbursed lodging costs during the inauguration week. The average reimbursement for offices that paid lodging costs was about $4,500.
Spentzas said some of the food and lodging expenses covered multiple staff, but she didn’t answer questions about which staff were included, how many employees or where they stayed.
She said some additional district staff were sent to Washington, D.C., to help carry out “official constituent service responsibilities,” due to the high number of requests from constituents — more than 1,000 — for inauguration tickets. This included helping with ticket distribution and coordinating visits to Bentz’s D.C. office. The office reimbursed Anderes for $6,250 to cover four days of hotels from Jan. 19 to Jan. 22. During that same period, James and Minear sent invoices for $3,128 each and Strader for $3,775.
Bentz’s office outspent the second-highest spender during the inauguration weekend, the office of U.S. Rep. John Carter, a Republican representing Texas’ 31st Congressional District, by nearly $2,800, despite Carter’s office reimbursing nine staff members’ travel expenses over that weekend. Bentz’s office paid almost twice as much for lodging over that weekend as Carter’s office did.
Oregon’s Democratic U.S. Reps. Andrea Salinas, Val Hoyle and Janelle Bynum, who attended the inauguration, spent on travel $264, $311 and $755, respectively, from their offices’ Congressionally allocated budgets during that time.
Reporting from the Malheur Enterprise in May identified a number of big-ticket spending items from Bentz and his staff, including Strader staying in $700-per-night hotels while on business and Bentz himself racking up thousands of dollars in hotel stays at resorts and luxury hotels.
Bentz also uses his office’s budget to cover rent on his D.C. apartment, something that’s allowed by Congress but that not all representatives choose to do. Bentz did not explain or comment on any of the expenses when questioned by the Enterprise.
By Alex Baumhardt of news partner Oregon Capital Chronicle
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