I know this isn’t earth-shattering news, and that these kinds of junkets happen constantly, but I’m mentioning this because I find Henry Hyde and his self-righteous moralizing annoying.
Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.), chairman of the House International Relations Committee, took 23 aides on a 13-lawmaker congressional delegation, to Ireland and Hungary last month.
There were 17 congressional staff and 6 military aides.
The high number caused consternation among lawmakers on the trip who say codels usually include fewer staff than members of Congress.
Among Hyde’s retinue were three of his Chicago-based district staff, including a mother and her daughter, and a military physical therapist/personal trainer who spent much of his time shopping and sightseeing with the lawmakers’ spouses.
Your tax dollars at work, spent by a man who likes to lecture others about responsible governing.
Apparently, there are even a few anonymous Republicans who think Hyde went overboard on this one.
The staff-heavy, seven-day, two-nation jaunt — particularly the inclusion of district office workers — offended several members of the codel, some of whom spoke to The Hill on condition of anonymity.
One, a Republican, said: “Let’s just say it was heavily staffed. Heavily staffed. It was bad. … Let’s just say there were more than committee staff on the trip.”
Another lawmaker said: “I didn’t feel like it was appropriate to have this much staff. Period.
“I have never been on a codel where the person leading it had that many staff members present. There just is not enough work to go around, especially when the military is doing most of the work to set things up in the first place.”