White House Used 'Taxpayer-Funded Trips to Help Elect Republican Candidates'

Posted by Ryan Powers, Think Progress at 10:29 AM on October 15, 2008.

A draft House Oversight Committee report finds that the White House “used the political affairs office to orchestrate an aggressive strategy to use taxpayer-funded trips to help elect Republican candidates for public office.” Under the direction of Sara Taylor, the political affairs office identified struggling GOP candidates and arranged for cabinet members to make appearances on their behalf:

From January 1, 2006, until the mid-term elections on November 7, 2006, cabinet secretaries and other senior officials traveled to over 300 events recommended by the political affairs office. All of these events were held with Republican candidates, and in most cases, the travel costs were paid for with federal funds. … In some instances, the White House specifically requested that travel be billed to the taxpayers to save Republican campaigns money.

During the course of their investigation, the Oversight Committee found Taylor to be “evasive” and “misleading.”

Tagged as: gop, white house

Ryan Powers is a former intern of the Center for American Progress and a senior at the College of William and Mary.