One of Washington’s quieter perks is travel on someone else’s dime. So far this year, Rep. Celeste Maloy and her sister joined a weeklong trip to Greece, and Sen. Mike Lee and his wife decamped to a luxury resort in Georgia for an elite, off‑the‑record policy forum—each paid for by special interest groups.
Trips funded by outside entities are generally allowed if tied to official duties like speaking engagements, meetings, or fact‑finding trips—so long as they’re pre‑approved by the House or Senate ethics committees and disclosed in advance. One hard line: trips can’t be funded by foreign governments.
In April, Maloy and her sister, Lucia, joined 26 other Republican members on a trip to Crete and Athens. The Republican Main Street Partnership—a nonprofit that backs moderate‑leaning House Republicans—picked up the tab.
Maloy said the purpose was to “study how Crete and Athens are spending the money that the U.S. Congress appropriates them.”
According to disclosures, the group paid just over $15,000 to cover travel expenses, lodging, meals and other expenses for Maloy and her sister.
The itinerary shows four days in Crete meeting with donors and hearing presentations from various stakeholders, followed by two days in Athens for briefings from the Greek armed forces and discussions on the economy and U.S. trade—plus a private tour of the Acropolis before flying home.
Sen. Lee and his wife, Sharon, stayed stateside for the 2025 American Enterprise Institute World Forum in Georgia, where Lee was invited to speak. The forum is billed as “one of the most substantive and thought‑provoking off‑the‑record events” for debate on urgent and long‑term issues.
AEI is a non-profit conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C.
This year’s event featured discussions with titles like “Antisemitism at the United Nations: A Global Stain” and “Drill, Baby, Drill: Energy Markets in the Age of Trump and AI.” There were also discussions about the future of the press and housing policy, among others.
The event was held in Georgia at The Cloister at Sea Island resort, a high-end luxury resort.
The cost of travel and lodging for Lee and his wife for travel and two days of lodging was just under $5,400. Organizers waived the $20,000 conference registration fee.
According to the filing, Lee missed the first day of the event because of Senate votes to pass a government funding bill.
Lee was one of 30 senators invited to the event. Sen. John Curtis was invited but did not attend.
Staffers for Utah’s delegation also accepted outside‑funded travel.
Maloy’s chief of staff, Bryan Wheat, traveled to Israel for several days at the end of May on a trip paid for by the American Israel Education Foundation (AIEF), the non-profit sister organization of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). He said the purpose was to assist Maloy “in understanding foreign policy issues” and aid her “efforts to better legislate on issues regarding Israel policy.”
Wheat was one of 14 House Republican staffers on the trip.
Travel, lodging, and meals totaled a little more than $14,400, with additional costs—including security—of just over $3,900 per person.
Two of Rep. Blake Moore’s staffers traveled to events sponsored by Center Forward, a nonprofit that advocates for bipartisan policies in Congress.
Moore’s chief of staff, Rachel Wagley and her husband attended a Center Forward event in Middleburg, Virginia in March. Travel and lodging for the two was a little more than $1,100.
Matthew Holyoak, a constituent liaison in Moore’s office, attended a three-day Center Forward event in New York City in April. Travel, lodging and meals cost $1,670.
Rep. Burgess Owens’s office reported two such trips in 2025.
Deputy Chief of Staff and Communications Director Emma Hall attended a Congressional Institute conference for legislative directors and communications staff in Maryland. Travel, lodging, and other expenses cost $1,200.
Legislative assistant Cody Rowe joined a Jobs for the Future site visit in Las Vegas in March. The trip cost just over $1,200.
As of now, Sen. John Curtis and Rep. Mike Kennedy—or their staffs—have not disclosed any outside‑funded travel in 2025.
