As lawmakers from both parties crossed a bridge in Selma, Alabama, on a historic anniversary for civil rights, one Republican House leader under fire from civil rights leaders was instead staying with his wife at a posh resort in Georgia, new records show.
House Majority Whip Steve Scalise skipped the 50th anniversary of Selma to attend the American Enterprise Institute's annual World Forum for at least the second time. Scalise (R-La.) and Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Texas) have so far filed disclosures that they attended, with more likely to be filed in coming weeks from other lawmakers.
Scalise was criticized late last year as Republicans readied to take majority control of both chambers when he confirmed he spoke to a white-supremacist group in 2002 while he was a state representative. The Congressional Black Caucus urged him this year to go to Selma to make amends, but he told The Hill in February he likely would not be going but planned to in 2016. His alternate arrangements that weekend have not been reported.
From March 5-8, Scalise and his wife instead attended the Republican "off-the-record" retreat hosted in Sea Island, Georgia, which draws the GOP elite each year. AEI paid $2,955 for the couple's expenses, including $1,440 for lodging.
On his disclosure, Scalise reported he would be "speaking at policy sessions and attending other events at the forum that will impact policy and decision making in Congress." The Ethics Committee approved the trip March 2.
A list of speakers on the program includes nearly every Republican name mentioned in a potential 2016 presidential field, Democratic Sen. Cory Booker (N.J.), former Vice President Dick Cheney and Rep. Aaron Schock (R-Ill.) who is pictured on the program and has since announced his resignation from Congress.
Republican leaders in the House were widely criticized in the days leading up to the Selma anniversary for not making the trip. Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is listed as a speaker at the forum, but he later reversed course and went to Selma.
Scalise attended the same forum last year with his wife, according to his disclosures. AEI paid nearly $4,000 for his expenses in 2014 and more than $50,000 overall for lawmakers including Scalise, Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) along with 15 other members of Congress, according to disclosures.
Another event over the same weekend, from March 6-8, also drew at least five Republican members of Congress when the Congressional Prayer Caucus Foundation hosted a religious liberty summit in Charlotte, N.C.
