The Statement of Disbursements of the House is a quarterly public report that lists every receipt and expenditure by U.S. House of Representatives members, committees, leadership offices, and administrative officers. The Chief Administrative Officer of the House compiles and publishes each edition within 60 days of the end of a calendar quarter, and the House has been required by law to produce it since 1964.1U.S. House of Representatives. Statement of Disbursements The statutory basis is 2 U.S.C. § 104a. If you want to see exactly where a congressional office’s money went, this is the definitive source.
The report runs on calendar-year quarters — January through March, April through June, July through September, and October through December — not federal fiscal-year quarters. That matters if you’re trying to align the data with appropriations cycles, which run October through September.2U.S. House of Representatives. Statement of Disbursements of the House – Frequently Asked Questions
What the Report Covers
Nearly everything a House office spends flows through the Members’ Representational Allowance (MRA). The MRA has three components: a personnel allowance for staff salaries, an official expenses allowance that varies based on the distance between the district and Washington plus local office-space costs, and an official mail allowance.2U.S. House of Representatives. Statement of Disbursements of the House – Frequently Asked Questions Because those factors differ by district, members do not all get the same amount. Since 2023, individual MRAs have ranged from roughly $1.85 million to $2.09 million, averaging around $1.93 million, and levels have stayed essentially flat through 2025. The proposed FY2026 legislative branch appropriations bill would continue funding at that level.
The MRA is authorized on a legislative-year basis (January 3 through January 2) but funded through annual fiscal-year appropriations. Members cannot roll unspent funds into the next legislative year. Any unspent appropriated balance at the end of a fiscal year stays available for two more fiscal years to cover preapproved and obligated expenses before reverting to the U.S. Treasury.2U.S. House of Representatives. Statement of Disbursements of the House – Frequently Asked Questions
Inside the report, spending is broken into categories that mirror how a congressional office actually operates. Personnel compensation is the largest slice, covering salaries for every staff role. The Committee on House Administration sets maximum and minimum pay rates for House employees.3House Committee on Ethics. House Ethics Manual – General Employment and Compensation Provisions Junior positions such as staff assistants and legislative correspondents have historically averaged below $50,000, while the pay cap for senior roles has risen over time. Because each transaction identifies the payee and amount, individual staff salaries are visible.
Travel is another significant line. When House employees use personal vehicles for official business, they are reimbursed at the mileage rate set by the General Services Administration. For 2026, that rate is 72.5 cents per mile.4U.S. General Services Administration. GSA Bulletin FTR 26-02 Airfare, lodging, and per diem also appear, all tied to federal travel regulations.
District office rent shows up as well. Members lease space in their home districts, and there is no fixed dollar cap on rent as long as the MRA has funds to cover it.5U.S. House of Representatives. District Office Leases Actual costs swing widely with local real estate. Remaining categories cover supplies, equipment, software subscriptions, furniture, and communications. Each transaction is tagged with a budget object code, so spending patterns can be compared across offices.
Franked Mail and Blackout Periods
Franked mail — the system that lets members send official correspondence at government expense — is one of the more closely watched categories. The U.S. Postal Service tracks the volume and cost of franked mail each quarter and reports it to the Chief Administrative Officer and the House Communications Standards Commission.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 39 USC 3216 – Reimbursement for Franked Mailings Those figures then appear in the Statement of Disbursements.
Federal law prohibits members from sending unsolicited mass mailings as franked mail during the 60 days before any primary or general election in which the member’s name appears on the ballot.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 39 USC 3210 – Franked Mail Transmitted by the Vice President, Members of Congress, and Congressional Officials For the 2026 general election on November 3, that blackout begins September 4, 2026.8United States Committee on House Administration. Blackout Dates The restriction reaches beyond paper newsletters. A “mass communication” is any distribution of 500 or more substantially identical pieces during a legislative year, regardless of format: robocalls, email blasts to non-subscribers, text messages, paid advertisements for town halls, newspaper inserts, and flyers all count.
This is where the report becomes a practical accountability tool. Mass-communication spending that lands inside a blackout window is a visible red flag, and watchdog groups and opposing campaigns scan the data for exactly that kind of timing.
What Official Funds Cannot Pay For
The MRA exists to fund official House business. Official resources may not be used for campaign or political purposes, and that prohibition covers any campaign — the member’s own reelection, a presidential race, or a state legislative contest.9House Committee on Ethics. General Prohibition Against Using Official Resources for Campaign or Political Purposes In practice, none of the following can happen with House resources:
- Soliciting campaign contributions from a congressional office.
- Drafting speeches, press releases, or literature for campaign use on official time or equipment.
- Filming campaign ads or taking campaign photos in a congressional office.
- Mining casework files or official mailing lists for campaign contacts.
- Including campaign content on, or linking to campaign sites from, member and committee websites.
Staff can do campaign work, but only on their own time, outside congressional space, and without using House resources. Even using an official email account to coordinate a campaign event crosses the line.9House Committee on Ethics. General Prohibition Against Using Official Resources for Campaign or Political Purposes Travel is a common gray area: if the primary purpose is official, the MRA can pay; if the primary purpose is political, campaign funds must. Mixed trips require careful allocation, and that allocation shows up in the disbursements data.
How the Report Is Organized
Each quarterly report runs thousands of pages, split into three volumes. Volume one covers House leadership offices and members’ official expenses, listed alphabetically by member name. Volume two continues the alphabetical member listing. Volume three covers committees, caucuses, government contributions to employee benefits, revolving funds for stationery and telecommunications, the Attending Physician’s office, broadcasting and networking services, and mass mail data, and closes with an index of all House officers and employees.1U.S. House of Representatives. Statement of Disbursements
Within each section the format is consistent: a summary of total spending for that office, followed by chronological line-item entries showing payee, amount, date, and budget category. When a staff member works for more than one House office, their compensation appears under each employing office, with the individual identified as a “shared employee.”2U.S. House of Representatives. Statement of Disbursements of the House – Frequently Asked Questions The same person’s name may appear under two or three offices, each showing the portion of the salary that office paid.
How to Access the Records
The House publishes the report on its official website. Each quarter is available as a single PDF or as three separate files matching the printed volumes. The same data is also published in CSV format, which opens in any spreadsheet program.1U.S. House of Representatives. Statement of Disbursements The CSV is what most journalists and researchers use, because searching a multi-thousand-page PDF for a particular vendor or staffer is slow going. All files are digitally signed by the U.S. Government Publishing Office.
The online archive on house.gov goes back to 2009. Although the House has published the statement since 1964, pre-digital editions are not available through the website.10U.S. House of Representatives. Archive For older editions, you would need to contact the National Archives or find physical copies through a federal depository library.
Why the Report Matters for Accountability
The Statement of Disbursements is a transparency tool, not an enforcement mechanism on its own. But the data feeds directly into oversight. The Office of Congressional Conduct — formerly the Office of Congressional Ethics, renamed in January 2025 — can investigate allegations of fund misuse by House members and refer findings for further action.11Office of Congressional Conduct. About The House Committee on Ethics can then take disciplinary action or, in serious cases, refer the matter for criminal prosecution.
On the criminal side, anyone who steals, embezzles, or knowingly converts public money or property faces penalties under federal law. If the total value exceeds $1,000, the offense carries a fine, up to ten years in prison, or both. Below that threshold, the maximum drops to one year.12Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 641 – Public Money, Property or Records These penalties apply to anyone handling public funds, not only elected officials. A staffer who submits fraudulent reimbursement vouchers faces the same exposure.
Most of the report’s practical value is deterrence. When every dollar an office spends will appear in a searchable public database within a few months, keeping spending defensible becomes part of how the office runs.