When House members travel the globe on private dime, families often go too

They are the U.S. House’s frequent fliers — representatives who have traveled the country and the world on official business paid for by private interest groups. Over the past decade, they have accepted nearly $4.3 million for airfare, lodging, meals and other travel expenses.

Almost one-third of those payments — just over $1.4 million — covered the costs for a lawmaker’s relative to join the trip.

From European enclaves such as Rome, Geneva and Copenhagen to oceanfront golf resorts on both American coasts, to Asia and Africa, the trips allow members and their families to stay in world-class resorts, spend days soaking up the culture and score reservations at the hottest restaurants in town.

Critics maintain the trips — paid for by nearly 200 advocacy organizations, nonprofits, and liberal and conservative think tanks — are no more than “influence-peddling vacations.”

Since 2012, hundreds of House members, closely split along party lines, and their staff, have taken at least 17,000 privately funded trips, congressional records show.

But a five-month investigation by Boston University and the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at the University of Maryland reveals how dozens of lawmakers legally turn the trips into free family adventures. The investigation examined 628 privately sponsored trips taken by lawmakers who topped the list of “frequent fliers” in the House in the past decade.

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