Budget hawk Jim Jordan wants the world to know he practices what he preaches. The GOP congressman from Champaign County who represents Marion County sent out a press release Thursday that boasted his office spent only $832,054 of the $1.3 million it was allotted last year, and returned about 37 percent of its budget to the U.S. Treasury.
After examining U.S. House of Representatives spending records from the past year, Jordan’s office said it had the lowest expenses of any House office, except for one near Seattle that was vacant for some of the year because its officeholder, Democrat Jay Inslee, resigned to focus on a successful gubernatorial run.
One reason Jordan’s 2012 office expenses were so low is the fact that his highest-paid staffer, chief-of-staff Ray Yonkura, took much of the year off to manage Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel’s unsuccessful campaign for U.S. Senate.
House of Representatives salary records show Yonkura made $34,645 from Jordan’s office in 2012, compared with $144,651 in 2011.
Jordan spokeswoman Meghan Snyder said that even if Yonkura was on board all year, his extra salary would have pushed Jordan’s budget ahead of only one other Congress member – New Jersey Republican Rodney Frelinghuysen – whose office spent $910,831 last year.
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