Past time to reign in foreign travel for congressional delegations on the public dime. Some of these trips could potentially pose Logan Act violations and need to be closely monitored by the State Department.
IMO, all "official" congressional trips should be authorized and organized by the State Department to make certain such trips do not compromise the official foreign policy of the United States, which is set by the executive branch.
If congressional delegations do not wish to coordinate with the State Department, fine, let them pay for the trip and all associated costs out of their own pocket (gasp!) or have their party (Republican or Dimocrat) foot the bill.
Even domestic travel needs to be limited, and all food and bar bills need to be paid for by the person who booked the trip with the Air Force. (double gasp!!)
Trump cut Pelosi's travel during a recent government shutdown and IMO he needs to institute a new set of rules on all such travel and associated expenses.
See:
The Logan Act is a United States federal law that criminalizes negotiation by unauthorized American citizens with foreign governments having a dispute with the United States. The intent behind the Act is to prevent unauthorized negotiations from undermining the government's position.
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/tom-fitton-air-pelosi-what-you-dont-know-about-the-lucrative-travel-our-leaders-enjoy-on-your-dime
When President Trump denied House Speaker Nancy Pelosi use of a military aircraft for a CODEL (congressional delegation trip) to Afghanistan recently, he called the public’s attention to wasteful taxpayer-funded congressional travel.
In his letter to Pelosi blocking the trip, President Trump mentioned the 800,000 federal workers going without pay. The real irony is that U.S. government workers in Afghanistan, who were among those not being paid, worked for two weeks to plan the trip – and on a holiday weekend.
We at Judicial Watch were not at all surprised by this foolishness. For years we have been exposing the lucrative travel our leaders enjoy at taxpayer expense.
We have long noted Pelosi’s abuse of the perks of public office that granted her access to luxury military travel. This current expedition is hardly new for her.
In 2009, during Pelosi’s first speakership, we uncovered documents from the Department of Defense detailing her multiple requests for military air travel. The documents included internal DOD email correspondence detailing attempts by DOD staff to accommodate Pelosi’s numerous requests for military escorts and military aircraft as well as the speaker’s last-minute cancellations and changes. https://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/judicial-watch-uncovers-documents-detailing-pelosis-repeated-requests-military-travel/
In response to a series of requests for military aircraft, one Defense Department official wrote, “Any chance of politely querying [Pelosi’s team] if they really intend to do all of these or are they just picking every weekend?… [T]here’s no need to block every weekend ‘just in case’…” The email also notes that Pelosi’s office had, “a history of canceling many of their past requests.”
One DOD official complained about the “hidden costs” associated with the speaker’s last-minute changes and cancellations. “We have … folks prepping the jets and crews driving in (not a short drive for some), cooking meals and preflighting the jets etc.”
The documents include a discussion of House Ethics rules and Defense Department policies as they apply to the speaker’s requests for staff, spouses and extended family to accompany her on military aircraft. In May 2008, for example, Pelosi requested that her husband join her on a CODEL into Iraq. The DOD explained to Pelosi that the agency has a written policy prohibiting spouses from joining CODEL’s into combat zones.
We reported in 2010 that Pelosi’s jet travel cost the Air Force $2,100,744.59 over a two-year period — $101,429.14 of which was for in-flight expenses, including food and alcohol.