Sen. Jeff Merkley (D., Ore.) used official Senate funds to pay for trips he and his staff took to the Netroots Nation conferences in 2011, 2012, and 2013, records obtained by the Washington Free Beacon show.
Over three years, Merkley billed taxpayers for a total of $4,678 for staff airfare, meals, and other travel-related costs to attend the annual conferences for progressive activists and politicians.
According to its website, the Netroots Nation conference aims to "amplify progressive voices" and "strengthen the community, inspire action, and serve as an incubator for ideas that challenge the status quo and ultimately affect change in the public sphere."
Merkley gave the keynote speech at the 2013 Netroots conference.
In 2011, Merkley used $570 in Senate funds to pay for transportation, meals, and travel expenses for his communications director to travel to Minneapolis for the Netroots conference.
In 2012, Sen. Merkley used $679 taxpayer dollars for travel expenses at that year’s Netroots conference in Providence, Rhode Island. Merkley also reported an airfare charge of $1,826, which included his flight to and from Providence.
In 2013, Sen. Merkley used $1,050.28 in Senate funds to pay for transportation, meals, and travel costs for a Merkley staff member to travel to San Jose for that year’s Netroots conference. Merkley accumulated $281 in meal costs while he was in San Jose to give his speech.
The records do not indicate that Merkley used official funds for his own lodging.
Merkley’s office did not respond to multiple requests for comment for this article.
Several congressional ethics experts told the Free Beacon that, while the Netroots conference is an explicitly political event, speeches and "fact-finding" trips usually do not run afoul of Senate rules.
"The primary purpose of a trip must of course be official in nature to justify the use of official funds for the airfare," the Senate Ethics Manual states. However, what constitutes a senator’s "official" duties is broad and generously interpreted by the Senate Ethics Committee.
Sen. Mary Landrieu (D., La.) recently apologized for using Senate funds to pay for charter flights that included campaign stops. Her office reimbursed the federal government for $33,727 for those flights.