An aide to a U.S. senator is receiving a taxpayer-funded commute with a price tag of over $40,000. 

Politico has identified the aide as Brent Robertson, who works for U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS).

Robertson is Marshall's chief of staff. The question here is whether the U.S. taxpayer ought to really be footing this bill. You be the judge.

Top GOP Senate aide charged taxpayers $44,000 for his commute https://t.co/Pjbql04EzD via @dcexaminer

— Paul Bedard (@SecretsBedard) November 6, 2025

The details

Politico's report is based on data from 2024. It ought to be noted that, unlike most congressional aides who are stationed in Washington, D.C., Robertson lives about 190 miles out.

The outlet reports:

Between April of that year and the following September, he took 11 trips labeled “Lynchburg VA to Washington DC and Return” and got $16,000 back in expenses from the government, according to Senate expense records. The expenses covered “incidentals,” “transportation” and a “per diem,” which is not usually taxed.

There's more.

The outlet continues:

Between October of last year and this past March, Robertson took 15 trips with the same label and got an additional $28,000 in expenses back. He secured a per diem payment of $10,000 for one trip to D.C. between Jan. 14 and Jan. 23, coinciding with the presidential inauguration.

Politico further notes that "the reimbursements paid to Brent Robertson are legal and comply with congressional rules governing expense reimbursements, according to experts." It adds, however, that "they also said it was highly unusual and at odds with the intent behind those rules."

More congressional contoversy

Just the News reports on how congressional committees and causes have been receiving $50 million since 2019.

Per the outlet:

Since 2019, partisan and special interest caucuses and coalitions in the U.S. House spent at least $50 million for staff, food, travel and other expenses, an investigation by The Center Square found.

Just the News goes on to provide some specific examples.

It reports:

The Democratic Caucus accounted for $16.4 million – the most – and the Republican Conference came in second spending at least $14.4 million, The Center Square analysis of House spending data shows. The New Democratic Coalition, Asian Pacific American, Congressional Black, Congressional Western, Congressional Progressive, Hispanic and Democratic Women’s caucuses jointly spent an additional $15 million, data shows. Caucuses formed to focus on specific issues, such as the Problem Solvers and Equity caucuses, spent about $1 million each, with the Main Street Republicans spending $534,000 of taxpayer money and the Pro-Choice caucus $345,000, the data shows.

It would appear that serving in Congress these days is not exactly a sacrifice.