Posted by Keturah Hetrick on Aug. 22, 2023
Nearly a dozen representatives have missed this year's filing deadline for personal financial disclosures.
Personal financial disclosures provide the public with important information about members' assets, debts and potential conflicts of interest. Members' annual reports are due on May 15 each year. Members have the option to file for an extension that allows them to delay their filings until up to Aug. 13 for representatives and Aug. 14 for senators.
According to a LegiStorm review of House Clerk's Office data, eleven members have yet to file their annual disclosures this year: Reps. Kelly Armstrong (R-N.D.), Ami Bera (D-Calif.), Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas), Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), John Rose (R-Tenn.), George Santos (R-N.Y.), Shri Thanedar (D-Mich.), Dina Titus (D-Nev.) and Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), as well as Del. Stacey Plaskett (D-Virgin Islands).
Except for Bera and Plaskett, each of those members filed for an extension in May. The Clerk's Office has published neither an annual report nor a letter of extension for Bera nor Plaskett this year.
It's not uncommon for members to file for an extension - 45 senators and 241 representatives did so this year. Members are subject to a $200 fine for filing their report more than 30 days after the original or extended deadline, per House and Senate Ethics rules.
Last year, then-Rep. Peter Meijer (R-Mich.) was the last member to file his disclosure, doing so three days before his term's end. Another, then-Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas), does not appear to have filed an annual report that year at all.
Nine representatives have filed reports since Aug. 13. All senators filed their reports before the Senate's Aug. 14 extended due date.
Some people and organizations who "caught our eye" last week:
