By Karl Bremer
While Michele Bachmann has developed a reputation as a champion for cutting government spending, her own 2009 congressional staff salary budget mushroomed by $176,868 - a whopping 26.4 percent - over her 2008 staff budget, even though her congressional workload didn’t change.
At the same time, Bachmann’s national media profile took a dramatic jump in 2009 due to her frequent cable tv appearances and campaign speaking engagements around the country.
Are taxpayers subsidizing Bachmann’s campaign expenses and increased media exposure with a congressional staff growing at more than twice the rate of anyone else in the Minnesota delegation? That’s hard to tell, because a number of Bachmann staffers also work as consultants to her campaign.
Double-dipping staffers
In 2009, four top staffers in Bachmann’s Washington office - including former Chief of Staff Michelle Marston and Communications Director David Dziok - collected $66,000 in campaign consulting fees while they were also drawing congressional salaries.
See the FEC link to Bachmann’s reports here.
See the Legistorm link to Bachmann salaries here.
While this double-dipping practice is legal, it’s relatively rare. In fact, among the Minnesota delegation in 2009, only two part-timers on Rep. James Oberstar’s congressional staff worked simultaneously on his campaign staff.
Instead, according to a spokesperson with the House Committee on House Administration, House staffers usually take a leave of absence from their House position and go fulltime to campaign work.
Without examining the time sheets for Bachmann’s staff, it’s difficult to determine whether placing congressional staffers on the campaign staff simultaneously has come at the expense of conducting official legislative business or constituent services for Bachmann’s district.
According to the House Committee on Standards of Ethical Conduct, “Employees who do campaign work while remaining on the House payroll should keep careful records of the time they spend on official activities and, separately, on campaign activities, and demonstrate that campaign work was not done on official time. There is no set format for maintaining such time records.”
Bachmann’s office did not respond to a request for payroll records for staffers who work congressional and campaign jobs simultaneously.
Staff budget numbers only tell part of the story
In defense of Bachmann’s 26 percent increase in her office salaries, Bachmann’s apologists will point to her seventh-lowest staff salary budget in the Minnesota delegation as proof that Bachmann is prudent with tax dollars (Erik Paulsen is lowest). However, these numbers don’t tell the whole story.
Bachmann, along with Republican freshman Paulsen, has fewer committee assignments than anyone else. Every member of the Minnesota congressional delegation other than Bachmann and Paulsen either chairs a committee or has at least two and sometimes three committee assignments and several subcommittee assignments. Bachmann and Paulsen each sit on a lone committee and only three subcommittees. Fewer committees mean less work and, consequently, less staff is needed.
But even that light schedule seems to be too demanding for Bachmann. Minnesota Independent found that Bachmann has missed four times as many committee votes as her Minnesota colleagues Paulsen and Keith Ellison on the House Financial Services Committee.
According to Minnesota Independent’s analysis, three-quarters of those missed votes occurred on days when Bachmann had national media appearances.
Bachmann was famous in the Minnesota State Senate for carrying a light workload and missing committee meetings as well. In fact, at one time Bachmann sat on two committees that met at the exact same time—a practice that was strongly advised against but still allowed. Bachmann often assigned staffers to sit in on committee meetings in her place.
In Congress, it appears Bachmann is continuing her tradition of doing less with more.
Double-Dipping Bachmann Staff in 2009
DAVID DZIOK
On staff all of 2009, Dziok collected $12,000 in campaign salary as an internet strategy consultant while he was collecting $44,009 in congressional salary as communications director.
BEN HARPER
On staff 1.1.09-10.31.09, Harper collected $17,500 in campaign salary as a financial administration services consultant while he collected $20,413 in congressional salary as an executive assistant.
MICHELLE MARSTON
On staff 1.3.09-11.6.09, Marston collected $20,000 in campaign salary as a campaign management consultant while she was collecting $101,333 in congressional salary as chief of staff. (Marston left Bachmann’s office in November 2009.)
JOHN TOMCZAK
On staff all of 2009, Tomczak collected $16,500 in campaign salary as a campaign management consultant while he was collecting $37,105 in congressional salary as a constituent services officer in 2009.
MINNESOTA CONGRESSIONAL STAFF SALARY INCREASES
| MEMBER | 2008 | 2009 | INCREASE |
|---|---|---|---|
| BACHMANN | $667,516 | $844,384 | 26.4% |
| WALZ | $816,458 | $906,677 | 11% |
| ELLISON | $900,349 | $986,420 | 9.5% |
| KLINE | $880,628 | $943,552 | 7.1% |
| OBERSTAR | $1,185,003 | $1,260,012 | 6.3% |
| MC'COLLUM | $962,399 | $996,294 | 3.5% |
| PETERSON | $1,004,809 | $1,022,875 | 1.7% |
| PAULSEN | N/A | $749,791 | N/A |
MINNESOTA CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS
MICHELE BACHMANN
Financial Services
- Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government Sponsored Enterprises
- Subcommittee on International Monetary Policy and Trade
- Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
KEITH ELLISON
Financial Services
- Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit
- Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity
- Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy and Technology
Foreign Affairs
- Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights and Oversight
- Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia
JOHN KLINE
Armed Services
- Terrorism, Unconventional Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee
- Military Personnel Subcommittee
Education and Labor
- Subcommittee on Higher Education, Lifelong Learning, and Competitiveness
- Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions
BETTY MC'COLLUM
Appropriations
- Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies
- Subcommittee on Legislative Branch
- Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs
Budget
JAMES OBERSTAR
Transportation and Infrastructure (Chair)
COLLIN PETERSON
Agriculture (Chair)
ERIK PAULSEN
Financial Services
- Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit
- Subcommittee on International Monetary Policy and Trade
- Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
TIM WALZ
Agriculture
- Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Energy, and Research
- Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management
Transportation and Infrastructure
- Subcommittee on Highways and Transit
- Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous materials
Veterans Affairs
- Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
Karl Bremer is a freelance writer in Stillwater, MN.
UPDATE: Michele Bachmann will now share a Press Staffer with Steve King.
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