by Josh Siegel | Jun 28, 2017
Retiring Rep. Jason Chaffetz says money helped fuel decision to leave CongressRep. Jason Chaffetz, who resigns from Congress at the end of the week, said
money played a part in his decision to retire.
"I mean, look, we're paid a very handsome salary, but our home is in Utah. I didn't move to Washington, D.C. I sleep in a cot in my office," Chaffetz, R-Utah, said on Fox News Wednesday night.
"And faced with another 100 to 200 nights a year where my wife's by herself in Utah and I'm in a cot in Washington, D.C. – as nice as the salary is — I can't afford to have two places and have a quality of life I'd like to have at this point," he said, adding that
serving in Congress is a "rich man's game."
Chaffetz signed a contract this week with Fox News to be a political analyst.
On Monday,
he told The Hill that members of the House and Senate should receive a $2,500 monthly housing allowance.
"Washington, D.C., is one of the most expensive places in the world, and
I flat-out can't afford a mortgage in Utah, kids in college and a second place here in Washington, D.C.," Chaffetz said in the interview with The Hill. "I think a $2,500 housing allowance would be appropriate and a real help to have at least a decent quality of life in Washington if you're going to expect people to spend hundreds of nights a year here."
Members of Congress get paid $174,000 per year.
Chaffetz was the head of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in Congress. He recently stepped aside, and South Carolina Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy took his place.
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/retiring-rep-jason-chaffetz-says-money-helped-fuel-decision-to-leave-congress/article/2627402
