Maryland and Virginia House members reported $176,509 in privately funded trips this year

By Rosalind Kerrow

WASHINGTON — Eight House members from Maryland and Virginia have disclosed 11 privately sponsored trips taken so far in 2026, with sponsors reporting $176,509.47 in travel, lodging, meals and other costs for the members and the relatives who went with them, according to post-travel forms filed with the Clerk of the House.

The trips, taken from January through September, include study tours in Kenya, Italy, Britain, Israel and Ukraine, two Alaska wilderness trips and a conservative members’ retreat at Trump National Doral near Miami. Four Democrats took five of the trips and four Republicans took six. Nine of the 11 included a spouse or other relative, whose costs the sponsors also paid.

House rules let outside groups pay for travel connected to a member’s official duties if the Committee on Ethics approves the trip in advance. Members must file a disclosure form with the Clerk within 15 days of returning, along with the sponsor’s accounting of what it spent. The Inquisitor read each form; the figures below are the sponsors’ reported actual costs. No ethics finding has been made about any of these trips.

The trips

Who traveled most

Olszewski, whose district covers much of Baltimore County, reported the highest total, $47,253.07 for two trips. On the Kenya trip, sponsored by the Aspen Institute’s congressional program with the Gates Foundation, the sponsor reported $11,862 for him, mostly $9,629 in transportation, and $10,342 for his wife. For the Alaska trip, the American Lands Project reported $12,537.38 for him and $12,511.69 for his sibling, Jordan Olszewski, including $3,243.33 each for guides and fees (form).

Harris, the only member with three trips, reported $33,943.06 in sponsor-paid costs, with his wife on each. The Marshall Scholars trip to Oxford and London, which Harris took alongside Beyer on one shared sponsor form, cost $9,218.53 for each member and $7,414.53 for each spouse. At the Conservative Partnership Institute retreat, the sponsor listed $310 in other costs for Harris, including a $105 hotel resort fee and $120 for cocktail receptions (form).

Kiggans’s trip to Israel was the most expensive single trip on the list. The American Israel Education Foundation, a charitable affiliate of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, reported $14,540.32 apiece for Kiggans and her husband, Steve Kiggans, including $8,959.34 each in transportation and $3,257.49 each in other expenses. Her form says members discussed the U.S.-Israel relationship and met with Israeli defense forces and officials on security cooperation (form).

Vindman traveled alone to Kyiv, where his form lists meetings with drone developers, Ukrainian lawmakers and veterans and a panel appearance. The sponsors reported $14,382 for transportation, $422 for lodging and $211 for meals. Elfreth, who sits on the Natural Resources Committee, traveled to Juneau with her husband, Eric Costello; her form says the trip covered issues in the Tongass National Forest. She later filed an amended disclosure for the same trip (amendment).

Members with no trips reported

The Clerk’s 2026 travel index lists no member-filed privately sponsored trips this year for Reps. Glenn Ivey, Steny Hoyer, April McClain Delaney, Jamie Raskin or Kweisi Mfume of Maryland; Reps. Rob Wittman, Bobby Scott, Jennifer McClellan, Ben Cline, Suhas Subramanyam or James Walkinshaw of Virginia; or Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton of the District of Columbia. The count excludes trips taken by staff members.

About the figures

Costs come from sponsors’ post-travel forms. About half of the forms are scanned images, and The Inquisitor read those by hand. Where a sponsor left a cost blank for a relative, it was counted as zero. Trips taken in the past two weeks may not yet appear. Members also must list sponsored travel on their annual financial disclosure reports, which for 2026 are due next May.

The Inquisitor is requesting comment from all eight members’ offices through their published office contact lines and web forms, and from the Elfreth, Vindman and Beyer campaigns at their published addresses. It has also asked the sponsors to confirm the costs, including the Aspen Institute, the American Lands Project, the Conservative Partnership Institute, the American Israel Education Foundation, the Association of Marshall Scholars, the Republican Main Street Partnership and Yalta European Strategy, and is seeking views from the Campaign Legal Center. Responses will be added when received.