Congress Travel – All Expenses Paid: Top Destinations and Sponsors

They’re among the platinum perks members of Congress and their staffers enjoy: expenses-paid trips, often to luxurious destinations in the United States and abroad.

And special interest groups are footing the travel bills.

Federal lawmakers and their staffers have so far taken more than 1,700 of these trips this year, according to a Skift analysis of congressional records through July.

The journeys are generally permitted by U.S. House and Senate rules as long as the itineraries are pre-approved by ethics officials, properly disclosed, and not bankrolled by a registered lobbyist or foreign agent. Most are sponsored by nonprofit or business organizations and designed to educate the official about a particular issue or industry, from global finance to national security to AI.

But some government watchdogs say these trips are often little more than junkets, particularly since many of them take place in desirable locations and involve hig