Rep. Bill Cassidy (R., La.) introduced a resolution on Monday that would require members of Congress to report anytime they use taxpayer funds on private charter flights, an issue his Democratic opponent for Senate Mary Landrieu has been criticized for in recent weeks.
"Taking charter planes unnecessarily is a waste of Americans’ hard-earned tax dollars," Dr. Cassidy said in a statement. "It makes no sense to fly on a $3,000 private jet if you can get to the same location in a few hours’ drive time and a $50 tank of gas."
"Washington’s spending is out of control and this is one of the reasons why," he said. "Ensuring that Washington is transparent and tax dollars are spent wisely is a priority."
The resolution would require every member of the House or Senate to report the use of official funds on any charter flights within 30 days. The disclosure would include the cost and purpose of the trip.
Sen. Landrieu has spent thousands of dollars on private flights, including improperly billing taxpayers for campaign trips.
Landrieu was forced to apologize and reimburse the government $33,727 on Friday for charter flights dating back to 2002 that she took to attend campaign events. The flights were paid for with official funds, a violation of federal law. The Democrat attributed the mistakes to "sloppy bookkeeping."
Cassidy criticized Landrieu for wasting taxpayer money and called on her to release all of her travel records.
"No matter how Sen. Landrieu spins it, she billed taxpayers for dozens of private jet flights since the turn of the century," he said. "Given Sen. Landrieu’s own admission of faulty oversight, how do taxpayers know that problems did not exist prior to 2002?"
Landrieu relies heavily on private charter flights to get around her home state. She spent $47,000 last year alone, sometimes costing more than $5,000 to travel just 200 miles.
Eliminating wasteful spending has been a center point of Cassidy’s tenure in the House of Representatives. Cassidy was able to eliminate the use of taxpayer funding on vanity portraits of government officials in the omnibus spending bill, which was signed into law in January.
Over the past two years the Obama administration had spent $400,000 on oil portraits, which Cassidy called a "ridiculous and unnecessary luxury."
Cassidy and Landrieu are currently in a close battle for the Senate, with a recent Rasmussen poll showing the Republican leading Landrieu 44 percent to 41 percent.