Congress

Top Hunt aide charged taxpayers $44,000 in hotel expenses

Published

3 months ago

January 28, 2026

The travel expenses of a Republican campaign manager in the crowded Texas Senate race have raised eyebrows for their seemingly exorbitant amount.

James Kyrkanides, the campaign manager for Senate candidate Wesley Hunt, charged taxpayers more than $44,000 in hotel expenses over three years as Hunt’s congressional chief of staff. The charges average $457 per night, four times the national standard rate set by General Services Administration rate for many federal employees, according to a Blue Light News analysis of House expense records.

That total accrued over 97 nights during 49 different stays. For instance, on Jan. 3, 2025, when Congress was being sworn in, Kyrkanides expensed a one-night hotel bill of $805. For May 20 to 22, 2024, he submitted a hotel bill of $1,692. And for a stay starting Aug. 6, 2024, he expensed two nights for a total of $1,321.

The expense records do not require the hotels or the city in which they’re located to be listed, and Kyrakanides declined to name the hotels.

Kyrkanides said all of the expenses were reviewed and approved by the House finance office, which handles disbursements of member money. He said less than half of the money that was reimbursed went to him personally and the remainder covered travel expenses for other Hunt staffers. He declined to provide receipts to verify that claim.

Kyrkanides confirmed Washington was his primary workplace during that period of time. He said a number of the reimbursements were in Hunt’s hometown of Houston, where the GSA’s recommended federal lodging rate is $128 per night. Krykanides said expenses also included stays in Washington, San Diego and New York, which have had average GSA rates of $234, $205 and $277 over the last year, respectively. Krykanides said the hotel stays in those cities were expensed on behalf of Hunt staffers for work travel, including a district director conference in San Diego and communications staffers going to New York for Fox News interviews related to policy.

Kyrkanides also noted that costs of food, beverage and parking aren’t included in the GSA rates, but his reimbursements folded in those items. He said subtracting them brings his average nightly lodging costs, excluding taxes, to $269. He also pointed to GSA policy that allows federal employees to be reimbursed up to 300 percent of the recommended rate if no other rooms are available.

Asked for comment about the expenses, a Hunt spokesperson said in a statement: “All transactions in this office are approved by the chief administrative officer, made public, and carried out in accordance with the highest ethical guidelines.”

A spokesperson for the chief administrative officer which oversees House finance declined to comment.

House members are given broad discretion in how they use their office budget. But some members and committees abide by GSA hotel rates, which serve as a reference point for the federal government. Senate staffers have to limit their hotel expenses to $165 per night but can obtain waivers for additional reimbursement in line with GSA hotel rates.

Hunt is now in a fiercely contested Senate primary against Sen. John Cornyn and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and, according to a RealClearPolitics average of recent polls, is running in third place. Trump hasn’t weighed in with an endorsement and has no plans to endorse in the race.

When briefed about the expenses, Donald Sherman, the president and CEO of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said the pattern of expenses appeared to be “excessive” and that instances like these show “there needs to be more robust independent oversight of Congress and how it spends taxpayer dollars.”

“The expenses themselves certainly suggest that there should be more scrutiny on Congressman Hunt and his staff about how they are spending taxpayer funds,” he said in an interview. “Costs aren’t getting real oversight. People [who approve such expenses] are simply checking boxes and giving deference to members.”

Congress

Wyden urges Democrats to back FISA privacy amendments

Published

1 hour ago

April 15, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Sen. Ron Wyden sent a letter to his Democratic colleagues urging them to reject a clean renewal of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act ahead of an expected House vote on Wednesday.

The federal surveillance authority expires Monday, and House GOP leadersdelayed a renewal vote set for Wednesday after disagreements with some Republicans over including amendments addressing privacy concerns. The White House and Republican leaders are calling for renewal without any changes, but a bipartisan group of lawmakers are demanding guardrails to address concerns AI can significantly enhance the government’s mass surveillance capabilities.

“With recent developments in AI supercharging how the government can surveil Americans, Congress must use this upcoming debate to make necessary reforms to all our surveillance laws,” Wyden (D-Ore.) said in the letter obtained exclusively by POLITICO.

The senator sent a similar letter to House Democrats on Monday.

A final vote in the House could happen around 10 p.m. Wednesday if GOP leadership can strike an agreement with holdouts on changes to the bill. That would set up a possible Senate vote on Thursday.

Amendments could include requiring a warrant for purchasing Americans’ information from data brokers, and closing a loophole that allows the government to use the foreign surveillance authority to investigate American citizens.

Wyden’s letter also called for declassifying a FISA Court opinion from last month that he described as finding major compliance problems with Section 702.

Congress

Vought: White House doesn’t have ‘ballpark’ total for Iran war funding

Published

2 hours ago

April 15, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

White House budget director Russ Vought told lawmakers Wednesday that the Trump administration hasn’t settled on “a ballpark” range for how much funding it will ask Congress to approve for the Iran conflict.

“We’re not ready to come to you with a request. We’re still working on it. We’re working through to figure out what’s needed in this fiscal year versus next fiscal year,” Vought said during testimony before the House Budget Committee on President Donald Trump’s fiscal 2027 budget blueprint.

Republican lawmakers are eager to receive the White House’s request for the Iran war, as GOP leaders discuss whether to fashion an emergency funding package that might attract Democratic votes or use the party-line reconciliation process to boost military spending.

It has been more than six weeks since the U.S. and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran and almost a month since Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed that the Pentagon sent the White House a request for $200 billion in emergency funding to support the military during the conflict.

The White House has said the forthcoming military funding request amid the Iran onslaught is separate from the president’s request earlier this month for a record $1.5 trillion in defense funding for the upcoming fiscal year.

Vought could get more questions on this topic Thursday when he testifies before the Senate Budget Committee.

Congress

GOP leaders delay FISA vote amid GOP rebellion

Published

4 hours ago

April 15, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

House GOP leaders postponed a Wednesday procedural vote on an extension of a key federal spy powers program as they scramble to land a deal with hard-liners around changes — acknowledging the truly “clean” extension that President Donald Trump is demanding is currently DOA in the chamber.

There are ongoing discussions around modifying the clean, 18-month extension of the surveillance authority known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, that Trump is ordering. GOP leaders acknowledged in private conversations Tuesday night and publicly Wednesday morning that at least some tweaks are necessary to quell a GOP rebellion that could lead to Section 702’s expiration April 20.

Republican leaders are still hoping to hold a procedural vote later Wednesday to pave the way for floor consideration of the measure, if they can strike an agreement with hold-outs around some changes. A final vote would then happen around 10 p.m. Wednesday. But Speaker Mike Johnson was noncommittal in an interview late Wednesday morning if all that could still happen. “We’ll see,” he said.

Conversations around potential changes picked up Tuesday night, as Blue Light News first reported. Holdouts are asking for guardrails on the program, including warrant requirements; the White House is open to making changes in this regard but likely in a more watered-down capacity than what hard-liners have been seeking.

Ultraconservatives are also pushing House GOP leaders and the White House to follow through on a previous promise to advance a ban on a central bank digital currency, known as CBDC. House GOP leadership and the White House are pushing for a longer Section 702 extension in exchange for advancing that policy or other reforms, while some hard-liners want the promised CBDC ban passed as a standalone rather than attached to the FISA bill.

Majority Leader Steve Scalise said in an interview that White House officials, GOP leaders and Republican holdouts are discussing some “potential amendments.” He added, “We’re still negotiating.” He maintained GOP leaders and White House officials won’t incorporate any changes that undermine the underlying government surveillance program.

Nothing has been agreed to. And Scalise said in an earlier interview leaders would likely incorporate “minor tweaks” into the procedural rule governing floor debate on the underlying bill — if the White House approves.

So far, however, conversations have not sufficiently moved the needle. Hard-liners aren’t budging, continuing resisting renewed calls from Trump and an increasingly aggressive pressure campaign from the administration. That includes a detailed presentation from CIA Director John Ratcliffe at Wednesday morning’s closed-door House GOP Conference meeting on the need for a clean extension.

“Look, he’s the executive, we’re the legislative, and we’re going to see a little bit of conflict between those two today,” Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris (R-Md.) said Wednesday, referring to the president.

GOP Reps. Michael Cloud of Texas, Andrew Clyde of Georgia and other hard-liners stood up in the GOP Conference meeting to raise their concerns about a clean reauthorization and continued push for overhauling the program. Some Republicans grew irritated that Ratcliffe “filibustered” until close to the end of the meeting’s scheduled conclusion to avoid taking challenging questions, according to four people in the meeting.

Even before the rule vote was postponed, several rank-and-file members said they were not confident the rule would be adopted.

“There are some who will vote against the rule for sure,” said one House Republican granted anonymity to speak candidly. “It’s a math issue.”

Democrats aren’t expected to help Republicans overcome the procedural rule, even though some of them support a reauthorization without policy changes at this time. The top Democrats on the House Intelligence and Judiciary Committees — Reps. Jim Himes of Connecticut and Jamie Raskin of Maryland, respectively — discussed a joint proposal for a package of FISA overhaul provisions at their party’s weekly caucus meeting Monday morning, which they plan to attempt to advance if the Republicans’ rule fails, according to two people in the meeting.

A fail safe option, if negotiations don’t yield results soon, is to pursue a very short term clean extension — possibly a few months — to buy more time for talks. White House officials and GOP leaders are trying to avoid that scenario.

Riley Rogerson contributed to this report.