[TMZ](https://www.tmz.com/2026/04/01/taxpayers-sponsor-congress-scotland-vacation/) actually caught this. They have photos of multiple GOP members of the House going sightseeing.
> “…Our photos show Virginia Rep. John McGuire, Wisconsin Rep. Derrick Van Orden, North Carolina Rep. David Rouzer, New York Rep. Claudia Tenney, and Missouri Rep. Jason Smith.
> […]
> Congress is not supposed to take taxpayer-funded trips like this during a government shutdown -- or so we thought -- but it sounds like they're getting around it because this is a partial shutdown. …
> We contacted reps for the Congress members we've seen in Scotland ... and a spokesperson for Van Orden told us, ‘DVO is joining more than 30 other members of Congress on a delegation that was pre-approved by the House Ethics Committee months ago. The trip focuses on economic development, foreign partnerships, and business engagement, including meetings with members of Parliament and other international officials.’”
1
Icy-Position3771Apr 1, 2026
+1
This is giant BS. But perhaps they are realists… last junket before their asses are jettisoned from Congress.
1
keb1965Apr 1, 2026
+1
“Foreign partnerships” is pretty rich. One boondoggle isn’t gonna help when the administration has constantly threatened, insulted, and tariffed almost every ally we used to have.
1
Icy-Position3771Apr 1, 2026
+1
Wish it was just one “boondoggle.” Dozens of BDs. Everything he touches turns to ash.
1
MJcorrieviewerApr 1, 2026
+1
Are they staying at Trump's golf course?
1
gedersoncarlosApr 1, 2026
+1
The party of personal responsibility really does not like personal responsibility when it applies to them. Funny how that works.
1
TheGreatLuckApr 1, 2026
+1
They're all going to see the world insights before they run for their bunkers. This should be quite alarming for us.
1
hazpsApr 1, 2026
+1
F***. If I'd known they were in Edinburgh, I'd have gone and heckled them.
1
WatchhistoryApr 1, 2026
+1
What I want to know is: 1) when they ran the eff outta D.C. after not funding TSA, etc., how many of them got to the airport 6 hrs. before they flight, stood 3 - 6 hours in check-in, security lines for their flight; 2) the same questions for them going to Scotland.
If they didn't have to, I have a further question: How did they avoid needing to leave that early for their flights, and for check-in and for security, since there has been so much chaos in the airports that in many of them PRIORTY, GLOBAL ENTRY and CLEAR weren't even operative, and there was no room in the paid for lounges.
1
Business_Boat3201Apr 1, 2026
+1
Just like when Ted Cruz went to Cancun after the lights went out in Texas
1
MJcorrieviewerApr 1, 2026
+1
Worse than that. That was only one member travelling, not over 30, and the gov wasn't in a shut down due to lack of funding.
1
BaconISgoodSOGOODApr 1, 2026
+1
TC was spotted in Fort Lauderdale, FL, just yesterday. This was after he just posted he would not take any paycheck so long as we have to endure this *Democratic shutdown*.
How magnanimous of him.
1
hungry2knowApr 1, 2026
+1
Kind of sounds like they know something we don't yet
1
PinHaunting7192Apr 1, 2026
+1
Bullsh\*t. It's not always a conspiracy.
These guys just took a nice Europe trip on the taxpayers dime cause they don't give a shit about their constituents being caught at the airports.
>If indeed it was a CODEL, the trip to President Donald Trump’s ancestral homeland may have been paid for using taxpayer money. The Department of Defense often provides aircraft for travel, too, although it’s not clear whether the delegation would have had to pass through a TSA checkpoint manned by unpaid agents.
>All three congressmen have been contacted for comment. Van Orden, reached for comment by TMZ, was said to be “none too pleased” at the interruption, and told the publication he was on the trip celebrating a positive diagnosis regarding his wife’s health. In January, he missed votes as she underwent scheduled surgery for a brain cyst.
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