Bob Casey Illegally Used Taxpayer Money for Campaign Flights, Records Show

Senators are given around $4 million in taxpayer funds each year to pay for staff salaries, official travel, office supplies, and other expenses. But it is illegal for them to use the money to cover campaign expenses. In 2014, then-Sen. Mary Landrieu (D., La.) came under scrutiny after her office illegally paid for a $3,100 charter flight to a campaign event. Landrieu’s team claimed her Senate office erroneously paid for a flight that should have been billed to her campaign. In 2004, Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer returned $20,000 to the federal government for dozens of private flights he took to campaign events. His office claimed at the time the payments were the result of "accounting errors."
Casey’s team offered a similar defense regarding his 2018 flights.