Lawmakers push ban on first-class airfare for Congress

Three lawmakers are pushing for a floor vote on their proposal to ban members of Congress from buying first-class airfare with taxpayer funds.

Reps. Rod Blum (R-Iowa), Gwen Graham (D-Fla.) and Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) have filed the measure as an amendment to the annual appropriations bill for legislative branch operations. 

“This is not a partisan issue: members of the House of Representatives don’t need special taxpayer funded perks like first class travel to do our job,” Blum said in a statement.

{mosads}”By adopting this amendment, the House can take a concrete step towards showing the American people that we are serious about good stewardship of taxpayer money – while holding ourselves accountable at a time when approval ratings for Congress remain near all time lows,” Blum added.

The House will vote Tuesday on the $3.3 billion legislative branch appropriations measure, which maintains a pay freeze on lawmakers’ salary that has been in place since 2010.

Blum will testify before the House Rules Committee later Monday about his amendment. The committee, which is an arm of leadership and controls how legislation is considered on the floor, is expected to announce Monday evening if the first-class airfare amendment will get a vote.

Blum and Graham are two of the most vulnerable freshman lawmakers heading into the 2016 election cycle.

Graham, with Blum as a co-sponsor, introduced legislation earlier this year to ban lawmakers from spending federal funds on first-class plane tickets. Her measure would further prevent members of Congress from using taxpayer funds for long-term car leases for personal use.

Gosar also crafted a similar bill earlier this month titled the Coach-Only Airfare for Capitol Hill (COACH) Act.

Graham said ensuring lawmakers don’t buy luxury airline accommodations with federal funds would help improve Capitol Hill’s image.

“If Congress wants to earn back the trust of the American people, it needs to start by cleaning up its act and banning these perks,” Graham said in a statement. “Most middle-class families in North Florida fly coach — and if it’s good enough for them, it’s good enough for Congress.”

— This story was updated at 3:17 p.m.