Chaffetz tweets ‘bye bye’ to office cot

Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) tweeted a goodbye to the cot in his office Thursday, a day before he is set to leave Congress.

Bye Bye pic.twitter.com/9nBcwohWIs

— Jason Chaffetz (@jasoninthehouse) June 29, 2017

Chaffetz has noted the steep cost for lawmakers of trying to maintain housing both in Washington, D.C., and their home states. He said Wednesday that money was a partial reason for why he resigned from his post as a Utah lawmaker. 

“I mean, look, we’re paid a very handsome salary, but our home is in Utah. I didn’t move to Washington, D.C. I sleep in a cot in my office,” Chaffetz said on Fox News.

{mosads}”And faced with another 100 to 200 nights a year where my wife’s by herself in Utah and I’m in a cot in Washington, D.C. — as nice as the salary is — I can’t afford to have two places and have a quality of life I’d like to have at this point,” he said. 

Chaffetz suggested in a Wednesday interview with The Hill that lawmakers should receive an additional $2,500 monthly stipend to help pay for D.C. housing.

He argued that such a stipend would allow lawmakers to have a higher quality of life, adding that serving in Congress is a “rich man’s game.”

“If you’re not a multimillionaire, you got dozens and dozens of us that can’t afford two mortgages, kids in college and other types of things,” Chaffetz added. “It’s very expensive in Washington, D.C.”

Fox News announced Wednesday that Chaffetz is set to become a contributor at the network after he leaves Congress. Chaffetz said he also plans to write a book and do some consulting work on the side.