Nancy Mace overcharged taxpayers by more than $12,000 last year for a home in Washington, D.C., for a home she also listed as a short-term rental.
She is now the subject of a complaint to the Ethics Commission: Lawmakers are being asked to investigate whether Mace improperly sought reimbursement for expenses related to her Capitol Hill rowhouse, the New York Times first reported.
Mace has the Capitol Hill property for rent, DailyMail.com can reveal.
A website up and running at the time of writing states that it is open for event rentals for 10-24 guests and calls the property “perfectly located just steps from the Capitol.” Perfect for short events where the proximity to the capital is ideal.’
The house was also listed on VRBO as of April under the host name ‘Ruth M.’ Ruth is Mace’s middle name.
It is not clear when it was posted to the site and for how long, but it has since been removed.
Nancy Mace overcharged taxpayers by more than $12,000 for a home in Washington, D.C. last year for a home she also listed as a short-term rental
It is also unclear how many people rented the property and whether Mace claimed expenses for the house at the time it was rented.
The new rule caps $34,000 for shelter and food per year. Lawmakers are not required to submit receipts, but are strongly encouraged to keep them.
Mace co-owns a $1,649,000 Capitol Hill mansion that she bought in 2021 with her ex-fiancé Patrick Bryant. DailyMail.com reported that they had split in December and had a fight about the house.
Documents breaking down Mace’s costs seen by DailyMail.com show an estimate of more than $12,000 more than allowed for her costs.
Her average monthly allowable expenses were $1,576 in 2023. She submitted no expenses in July and August. The average amount claimed over the months she filed was $2,782. The discrepancy was first highlighted by a Washington Post report.
The house was also listed on VRBO as of April under the host name ‘Ruth M.’ Ruth is Mace’s middle name
The difference between the costs she declared – €27,817 – and the costs she incurred that were eligible for reimbursement – €18,909.39 – amounts to €12,276.40.
The highest month was October 2023, when she claimed $4,176 in lodging expenses.
A quiet rule change early in this Congress allows members to submit food and lodging expenses for the days they are in Washington, DC, on official business.
About 300 members took advantage of the new rules last year, receiving nearly $6 million in compensation.
The Member Entertainment Allowance (MRA) allows members to pay for hotels and rental expenses within the daily rate set by the General Services Administration (GSA) for each day they are in Washington on official business.
However, it does not allow them to charge for mortgage payments or interest on homes they own, so members do not build capital from tax dollars.
Only utilities, property taxes and home insurance can be charged to homeowners under the program. Members and their staff were specifically informed of this, according to a source who helped usher in the new system.
“We had a lot of questions in the beginning, members said, ‘Can we get our lawn care reimbursed, can we get the dry cleaning reimbursed, can we get the house cleaner reimbursed,’ and again we really stuck to insurance, taxes and utilities,” the source said.
But an email Mace sent to staff in April 2023, seen by DailyMail.com, showed she understood she could only be reimbursed for utilities, insurance and taxes. In the email, she specifically noted that she could not file charges for principal and interest.
Mace’s expenses reveal seemingly inconsistent accounting and she blamed her staff in an interview with DailyMail.com.
It is not the first time that Mace has been under the eye of the ethics committee. In early 2024, the committee contacted former staff as part of an investigation into her for illegally soliciting campaign donations, two sources directly involved in the investigation told DailyMail.com.
Mace’s expenses reveal seemingly inconsistent accounting and she blamed her staff in an interview with DailyMail.com
It is not the first time that Mace has been under the eye of the ethics committee. In early 2024, the committee contacted former staff as part of an investigation into her for illegally soliciting campaign donations, two sources directly involved in the investigation told DailyMail.com
In October, Mace urged Fox Business viewers to donate to her campaign website during a TV blast from the Capitol rotunda, violating ethics rules that ban fundraising in federal buildings. It was just after she voted to oust Kevin McCarthy from the speakership.
“You’re damn right I’m raising money on this right now because the establishment is coming after me for taking a principled stand,” Mace boasted to Cavuto. “And if your viewers want to help, they can go to NancyMace.org.”
And it’s not the only time she’s been accused of mishandling taxpayer money.
“The congresswoman repeatedly tried to get us to use the official account to pay for family and business travel and first-class upgrades on international flights for herself and her family. I had to remind her that this was illegal all the time,” a source familiar with the office’s day-to-day operations told DailyMail.com.
Mace declined to comment on the charges. Her office could not be reached for comment.
