{"id":11515934,"date":"2025-07-07T05:02:05","date_gmt":"2025-07-07T09:02:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/?p=11515934"},"modified":"2025-07-03T21:04:38","modified_gmt":"2025-07-04T01:04:38","slug":"maryland-congress-travel-who-paid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/2025\/07\/07\/maryland-congress-travel-who-paid\/","title":{"rendered":"Maryland Congress members or staff traveled to Italy, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Israel. Here’s who paid."},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON \u2014 Members of Maryland’s congressional delegation or their staffs got thousands of dollars worth of international or domestic travel paid for by nonprofit groups, some of which have strong policy agendas, according to congressional ethics disclosures reviewed by The Baltimore Sun.<\/p>\n

The destinations included Bellagio on Italy’s Lake Como; Dublin; Belfast, Northern Ireland; Tel Aviv, Israel; and Orlando, Florida.<\/p>\n

The traveling members, sometimes accompanied by their wives, included Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat, and Rep. Andy Harris, a Republican whose district includes Harford County, the Eastern Shore and a portion of Baltimore County. The members, who say the trips provide educational opportunities, did them as part of sanctioned congressional travel paid for by private parties. Under House and Senate rules, such travel is allowed as long as it’s not solicited by the member or sponsored by registered lobbyists or foreign agents.<\/p>\n

While congressional rules permit such travel, the trips \u2014 which often include business-class airfare to exotic locations \u2014 “contribute to the lack of confidence people have in the folks that represent us,” said Todd Eberly, a political science professor at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. “No working man or woman is going to have a business spend $15,000 to send them halfway around the world,” Eberly said, for a conference that could be held in Washington for the price “of a cab ride.”<\/p>\n

According to the documents, Van Hollen and his wife took trips to Italy and Ireland for seminars sponsored by The Aspen Institute, a nonprofit educational and research think tank that holds forums and conferences. The Aspen Institute also paid for Harris and his wife to travel to an Italy conference. The American Israel Education Foundation, which is affiliated with AIPAC \u2014 a pro-Israel lobbying group \u2014 paid for a Harris staff member to travel to Israel for briefings and discussions.<\/p>\n

The J Street Education Fund, a nonprofit that says it seeks to \u201cpromote a nuanced understanding of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” funded a trip to Israel for a staff member for Baltimore County Rep. Johnny Olszewski Jr., a Democrat, to attend seminars. And the Conservative Partnership Institute paid for Harris and his wife to attend an Orlando conference of national conservative leaders.<\/p>\n

“This is definitely a ‘benefit of being an elected public servant,'” said Roger Hartley, dean of the University of Baltimore\u2019s College of Public Affairs. “Non-elected public servants don’t get to do this.”<\/p>\n

The trips are considered educational, while also offering members the opportunity to travel to desirable locations with their spouses. The rules generally allow a spouse or other relative \u2014 but not both \u2014 to accompany a member, but specify that sponsors can pay only for necessary expenses, not entertainment.<\/p>\n

The trip sponsors, Hartley said, “are getting a lot of time” with lawmakers. “The biggest thing you want is time to kind of shape their thinking,” he said.<\/p>\n

The sponsors’ identities were contained in online disclosures designed to prevent potential conflicts of interest.<\/p>\n

Privately funded trips must be approved in advance by the House or Senate. Such travel \u201cused to be the wild west, but over time Congress tightened the rules to limit the potential for such trips to be mere junkets designed to curry favor with lawmakers,\u201d said Hilary Braseth, executive director of OpenSecrets, a watchdog group.<\/p>\n

These were the trips chronicled in the documents, according to The Sun’s review:<\/p>\n

Trips to Italy and Ireland for Van Hollen and his wife<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The Aspen Institute paid for Van Hollen and his wife to travel to Bellagio, Italy, from April 1 to 4, 2024, for $24,501, including business class airfare, hotel and meals. The airfare rose substantially, the disclosure form said, because the senator had to return two days earlier than planned for unspecified work reasons. The title of the conference was \u201cArtificial Intelligence: The Promise and the Peril.\u201d<\/p>\n

The institute, which invites lawmakers from both parties to its conferences, also funded a trip from Aug. 10 to 15 for Van Hollen and his wife, which was split between Dublin and Belfast, at a cost of $20,529. The topic was Chinese and Russian foreign policy.<\/p>\n

Van Hollen\u2019s office told The Sun the trips \u201cwere bipartisan trips with a focus on discussing policy matters \u2014 specifically the challenges presented by China and Russia and the opportunities and threats posed by AI \u2014 among the members in attendance and issue area experts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trip to Italy for Harris and wife<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The Aspen Institute funded a $14,998 trip to Bellagio, Italy, from April 21 to 26 this year for Harris, with his wife, Nicole, who chairs the Maryland Republican Party. The topic was U.S. energy policy and competitiveness.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe topic of energy\/energy infrastructure is incredibly important at present, especially in my district, which has been subject to wildfires,\u201d Harris wrote the House Ethics Committee in his authorization request. \u201cI will learn firsthand how to help my district sustain energy even in the midst of extreme weather events.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Harris spokesperson did not respond to The Sun’s questions about his travel.<\/p>\n

Israel trip for Olszewski staff member<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The J Street Education Fund paid for a May 23 to 30 trip to Tel Aviv for Sean Naron, the chief of staff for Olszewski. The cost of transportation, lodging and meals was $6,795.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Olszewski said the trip \u201cprovided key opportunities to strengthen ties with a global partner, meet with governmental and community leaders, and to have on-the-ground experience to help support ongoing efforts for regional stability and peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

Israel trip for Harris’ staff<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The American Israel Education Foundation funded a Sept. 1 to 9, 2024, trip to Tel Aviv for Matthew Hutson, Harris\u2019 chief of staff. The cost was $10,518 for transportation, plus $8,725 for lodging, meals and other expenses.<\/p>\n

The foundation conducted seminars about Israel and the U.S.-Israel relationship for senior congressional staff.<\/p>\n

Orlando trip for Harris and his wife<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The Conservative Partnership Institute paid for Harris and his wife to travel to Orlando in February for a conference of conservative leaders, many of whom were from the Trump administration and Congress.<\/p>\n

Among the scheduled speakers or guests were Russ Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget; House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan; Tom Homan, the Trump administration’s border czar; and FBI Director Kash Patel.<\/p>\n

Harris was also listed as a speaker during the Feb. 7 to 9 retreat at the Ritz-Carlton Grande Lakes in Orlando.<\/p>\n

The trip cost $3,037. “The agenda helped me learn and converse with other members to better serve my constituents and the United States,” Harris wrote in a post-travel disclosure form.<\/p>\n

Have a news tip? Contact Jeff Barker at jebarker@baltsun.com.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Members of Maryland’s congressional delegation got thousands of dollars worth of travel paid for by nonprofit groups, some of which have strong policy agendas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":102,"featured_media":11118245,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"apple_news_api_created_at":"2025-07-07T09:06:03Z","apple_news_api_id":"0d1102c3-9ceb-448f-bc1e-da18ec070bc5","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2025-07-07T09:06:04Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/ADRECw5zrRI-8HtoY7AcLxQ","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"middle","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"subheadline":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[83,84,85,93],"tags":[26130,24457,202],"feature":[],"location":[223],"type-of-work":[],"coauthors":[442],"class_list":["post-11515934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-headlines","category-local-news","category-news","category-politics","tag-maryland-politics","tag-social","tag-sun-investigates","location-maryland"],"post_status":"","edit_last":0,"edit_lock":0,"highlights":"","original_byline":"","original_canonical":"","original_category":"","original_email":"","original_id":0,"original_pubdate":"","original_source":"","primary_section":"93","primary_tag":202,"print_workflow_body":{"deck_headline":"Sun Investigates","print_title":"Maryland Congress members or staff traveled to Italy, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Israel. Here's who paid.","print_subheadline":"","print_priority":"","print_placement":"cover","print_planned_ready":"","print_pub_date":"1751860800","print_slug":"TBS-L-DISCLOSURES-0706","print_budget_line":"","print_excerpt":"Members of Maryland's congressional delegation got thousands of dollars worth of travel paid for by nonprofit groups, some of which have strong policy agendas.","print_notes":"","photo_limits":"Photo limits are: 1 featured image, 5 featured gallery images, 5 embedded gallery images and 5 in-article embedded images. Articles that exceed these limits will not export. Please adjust images to reflect these limits.","print_featured_gallery_richtext":"","print_inline_galleries_richtext":"","print_inline_images_richtext":"","print_content":"

WASHINGTON \u2014 Members of Maryland's congressional delegation or their staffs got thousands of dollars worth of international or domestic travel paid for by nonprofit groups, some of which have strong policy agendas, according to congressional ethics disclosures reviewed by The Baltimore Sun.<\/p>

The destinations included Bellagio on Italy's Lake Como; Dublin; Belfast, Northern Ireland; Tel Aviv, Israel; and Orlando, Florida.<\/p>

The traveling members, sometimes accompanied by their wives, included Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat, and Rep. Andy Harris, a Republican whose district includes Harford County, the Eastern Shore and a portion of Baltimore County. The members, who say the trips provide educational opportunities, did them as part of sanctioned congressional travel paid for by private parties. Under House and Senate rules, such travel is allowed as long as it's not solicited by the member or sponsored by registered lobbyists or foreign agents.<\/p>

While congressional rules permit such travel, the trips \u2014 which often include business-class airfare to exotic locations \u2014 \"contribute to the lack of confidence people have in the folks that represent us,\" said Todd Eberly, a political science professor at St. Mary's College of Maryland. \"No working man or woman is going to have a business spend $15,000 to send them halfway around the world,\" Eberly said, for a conference that could be held in Washington for the price \"of a cab ride.\"<\/p>

According to the documents, Van Hollen and his wife took trips to Italy and Ireland for seminars sponsored by The Aspen Institute, a nonprofit educational and research think tank that holds forums and conferences. The Aspen Institute also paid for Harris and his wife to travel to an Italy conference. The American Israel Education Foundation, which is affiliated with AIPAC \u2014 a pro-Israel lobbying group \u2014 paid for a Harris staff member to travel to Israel for briefings and discussions.<\/p>

The J Street Education Fund, a nonprofit that says it seeks to \u201cpromote a nuanced understanding of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,\" funded a trip to Israel for a staff member for Baltimore County Rep. Johnny Olszewski Jr., a Democrat, to attend seminars. And the Conservative Partnership Institute paid for Harris and his wife to attend an Orlando conference of national conservative leaders.<\/p>

\"This is definitely a 'benefit of being an elected public servant,'\" said Roger Hartley, dean of the University of Baltimore\u2019s College of Public Affairs. \"Non-elected public servants don't get to do this.\"<\/p>

The trips are considered educational, while also offering members the opportunity to travel to desirable locations with their spouses. The rules generally allow a spouse or other relative \u2014 but not both \u2014 to accompany a member, but specify that sponsors can pay only for necessary expenses, not entertainment.<\/p>

The trip sponsors, Hartley said, \"are getting a lot of time\" with lawmakers. \"The biggest thing you want is time to kind of shape their thinking,\" he said.<\/p>

The sponsors' identities were contained in online disclosures designed to prevent potential conflicts of interest.<\/p>

Privately funded trips must be approved in advance by the House or Senate. Such travel \u201cused to be the wild west, but over time Congress tightened the rules to limit the potential for such trips to be mere junkets designed to curry favor with lawmakers,\u201d said Hilary Braseth, executive director of OpenSecrets, a watchdog group.<\/p>

These were the trips chronicled in the documents, according to The Sun's review:<\/p>

Trips to Italy and Ireland for Van Hollen and his wife<\/strong><\/h4>

The Aspen Institute paid for Van Hollen and his wife to travel to Bellagio, Italy, from April 1 to 4, 2024, for $24,501, including business class airfare, hotel and meals. The airfare rose substantially, the disclosure form said, because the senator had to return two days earlier than planned for unspecified work reasons. The title of the conference was \u201cArtificial Intelligence: The Promise and the Peril.\u201d<\/p>

The institute, which invites lawmakers from both parties to its conferences, also funded a trip from Aug. 10 to 15 for Van Hollen and his wife, which was split between Dublin and Belfast, at a cost of $20,529. The topic was Chinese and Russian foreign policy.<\/p>

Van Hollen\u2019s office told The Sun the trips \u201cwere bipartisan trips with a focus on discussing policy matters \u2014 specifically the challenges presented by China and Russia and the opportunities and threats posed by AI \u2014 among the members in attendance and issue area experts.\u201d<\/p>

Trip to Italy for Harris and wife<\/strong><\/h4>

The Aspen Institute funded a $14,998 trip to Bellagio, Italy, from April 21 to 26 this year for Harris, with his wife, Nicole, who chairs the Maryland Republican Party. The topic was U.S. energy policy and competitiveness.<\/p>

\u201cThe topic of energy\/energy infrastructure is incredibly important at present, especially in my district, which has been subject to wildfires,\u201d Harris wrote the House Ethics Committee in his authorization request. \u201cI will learn firsthand how to help my district sustain energy even in the midst of extreme weather events.\u201d<\/p>

A Harris spokesperson did not respond to The Sun's questions about his travel.<\/p>

Israel trip for Olszewski staff member<\/strong><\/h4>

The J Street Education Fund paid for a May 23 to 30 trip to Tel Aviv for Sean Naron, the chief of staff for Olszewski. The cost of transportation, lodging and meals was $6,795.<\/p>

A spokesperson for Olszewski said the trip \u201cprovided key opportunities to strengthen ties with a global partner, meet with governmental and community leaders, and to have on-the-ground experience to help support ongoing efforts for regional stability and peace.\u201d<\/p>

Israel trip for Harris' staff<\/strong><\/h4>

The American Israel Education Foundation funded a Sept. 1 to 9, 2024, trip to Tel Aviv for Matthew Hutson, Harris\u2019 chief of staff. The cost was $10,518 for transportation, plus $8,725 for lodging, meals and other expenses.<\/p>

The foundation conducted seminars about Israel and the U.S.-Israel relationship for senior congressional staff.<\/p>

Orlando trip for Harris and his wife<\/strong><\/h4>

The Conservative Partnership Institute paid for Harris and his wife to travel to Orlando in February for a conference of conservative leaders, many of whom were from the Trump administration and Congress.<\/p>

Among the scheduled speakers or guests were Russ Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget; House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan; Tom Homan, the Trump administration's border czar; and FBI Director Kash Patel.<\/p>

Harris was also listed as a speaker during the Feb. 7 to 9 retreat at the Ritz-Carlton Grande Lakes in Orlando.<\/p>

The trip cost $3,037. \"The agenda helped me learn and converse with other members to better serve my constituents and the United States,\" Harris wrote in a post-travel disclosure form.<\/p>

Have a news tip? Contact Jeff Barker at jebarker@baltsun.com.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>"},"print_workflow_exported_ts":"1751591114","print_workflow_exported_username":"Andy Knobel","print_workflow_shapes":"","print_workflow_side":{"print_section":"24225","print_status":"24232","add_export_buttons":"","print_endpoint":"tribune"},"really_short_title":"","short_title":"","syndication_source":"","market_neutral_title":"","social_title":"","dfm_hub_post_id":0,"paywall_level":"premium","featured_media_content":{"content_type":"image","content":{"id":11118245,"title":"U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen","filename":"TBS-L-MD-Congress-capitol-p1.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/TBS-L-MD-Congress-capitol-p1.jpg","link":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/u-s-sen-chris-van-hollen\/","alt":"","author":"36","description":"","caption":"U.S. Sen. 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