Recent news reports have exposed the existence of a secret slush fund in the Congress to settle sexual harassment and other personal claims against members of Congress. This fund appears to use taxpayer money supplied by Congress. To date Congress refuses to give details about how this fund was created, who has used it, and who has been paid by it.
Article I Section 9 of the Constitution says “No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriation made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all Public Money shall be published from time to time.”
Presumably members of Congress know what the Constitution says since they have all taken an oath (required by the Constitution) to support and defend it.
To date the response of Congress to this issue has been to pass a bill requiring sexual harassment training ignoring the obvious violation of the Constitution.
Article I Section 5 of the Constitution gives the Congress the power to discipline and expel members for disorderly behavior. Surely, violating the Constitution should be a punishable offense.
If the Congress fails to correct this problem and appropriately punish those responsible, the Justice Department should file suit with the Supreme Court to address this issue.
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