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Gooden, a Republican congressman from Texas, was accused of reimbursing excessive personal expenses and misusing election funds. Congress’s ethics investigation has been initiated. Gooden vehemently denied this and called the allegation a political witch hunt.
Washington Post reports,republican party texas federationRepresentative Lance Gooden is currently under investigation by Congress on charges of reimbursing excessive expenses unrelated to work and misusing election funds for personal travel. Gooden said the allegations were “madness” and “nonsense”.
The House Ethics Committee confirmed on the 9th that Gooden is now under investigation. The investigation was conducted by the Office of Congressional Conduct, a non-partisan agency that specializes in handling ethics complaints against members of Congress. The investigation report has been sent to the Disciplinary Committee of the House.
The investigative report revealed that Gooden had an “excessive spending pattern” and that the amount of travel expenses reimbursed last year was higher than that of other members of Congress. In 2025, including travel expenses including accommodation, meals and air tickets, Gooden will reimburse approximately 184,000 yuan.
The investigative report stated that since Gooden refused to cooperate, there was every reason to believe that he knowingly made expensive travel choices and reimbursed Congress for personal or election travel.
Gooden issued a statement saying that the House Disciplinary Committee would ultimately expose this “political witchcraft.” He also called for another House committee to investigate the Office of Congressional Conduct.
The “Office of Congressional Conduct” report listed Gooden’s reimbursement records for luxury hotel accommodations, business class and first class air tickets, and long-term car rental expenses, which may violate House of Representatives requirements that travel and accommodations be “reasonable” and “ordinary and necessary.”
The report said Gooden reimbursed his son’s travel expenses at least once last year, and at least twice his colleagues booked air tickets through Gooden’s wife’s credit card travel platform so Gooden’s wife could accumulate bonus points.
The Office of Congressional Conduct said the travel expense reimbursement amounts listed by Gooden’s election team exceeded the actual expenses described in the long-detailed list. Additionally, some of the trips for which Gooden has applied for reimbursement are not related to fundraising or any election activities, such as a trip to the luxury ski resort of Vail, Colorado in 2024, where he spent $17,162, and a trip to New Orleans with his wife in 2022.
According to the Post’s analysis, Guden’s housing expense reimbursement in 2025 will exceed 72,600 yuan, which is not only the highest amount among all members of the House of Representatives, but also twice the amount of the second-ranked representative. Republican Texas Congressman Pete Sessions is second with $38,700 in housing expenses.
Summary FAQ
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The Washington Post reported that Gooden was suspected of reimbursing extraordinary work-related expenses, and that he may have reimbursed Congress for personal travel or campaign events. Therefore, he was investigated by relevant congressional agencies.
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The report lists expenses for luxury hotel accommodations, business class and first class air tickets and long-term car rentals. It also mentions that he reimbursed travel expenses for his son, and even accumulated bonus points for some ticket bookings for his wife.
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According to the report analysis, Gooden will be reimbursed more than 72,600 yuan for housing expenses in 2025, the highest among all members of the House of Representatives. Including accommodation, meals and air tickets, the total travel expenses will be around 184,000 yuan.
