Pelosi’s Office Costs Taxpayers More Than 18k Monthly

In the midst of her state’s dire financial crisis, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has moved her district office to a new state-of-the-art building with an award-winning “green” design at quadruple the monthly rent of the old location.

That means taxpayers in the (not so) Golden State will dish out nearly double the next highest monthly rent paid by a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. That’s a whopping $18,736 a month for 3,075 square-feet in downtown San Francisco, according to official congressional spending figures cited by the Capitol Hill newspaper that broke the story this week.

For two decades, Pelosi paid one-fourth the rent at a nearby federal building, but last fall she outgrew the space and her security needs changed, according to a spokesman. The veteran Democrat was “no longer able to meet the needs of San Franciscans” in the cheaper locale. Besides, the new building will save taxpayer funds on utility costs because it features an award-winning green design that consumes less than half the power of a standard office tower, Madam Speaker’s spokesman added.

It makes sense that members who represent major urban districts with inflated property values pay the most for local offices, but even in those high-rent areas Pelosi’s new digs blow away the competition, the news report points out. The next highest monthly office rent belongs to Congressman Jerrold Nadler, who occupies space in a federal building in Manhattan’s trendy SoHo neighborhood for around $10,600.

Congressman Jose Serrano paid $10,350 a month last year for an office in the Bronx, but he recently reduced the rent by almost $1,000 by moving to a new building. The next highest rents are paid by two California congresswomen and a congressman from Massachusetts. Sacramento’s Doris Matsui, Boston’s Stephen Lynch and Diane Watson of Los Angeles all pay $9,000 to $10,000 a month for their district offices.

North Carolina Congressman Heath Shuler seems to be paying the lowest rent of any other House member, $400 a month for an office in Asheville. Florida’s Suzanne Kosmas pays only $1,353 for an Orlando office owned by a state university and Michigan’s Mark Schauer pays $1,500 for space in the center of his district along the state’s southern border.

They could rent a dozen spaces with the Speaker’s office budget. Pelosi is so corrupt that Judicial Watch has dedicated an entire section to her wrongdoing, which includes campaign finance violations and using  U.S. military aircraft as her personal taxi. Click here to read Department of Defense records, staff electronic mail and other internal documents involving Pelosi’s unscrupulous use of military planes.