Shane Goldmacher, Journalist
Congressional Travel
In 2014, Shane Goldmacher produced a series of stories on congressional travel, including uncovering that Congress had quietly stripped away the requirement that the free trips lawmakers receive be reported on their annual financial disclosure forms. The Wall Street Journal said the story "ignited a flurry of criticism on Capitol Hill" while CNN said it "sent out ripples of outrage."
Within days, the House reversed itself. The chairman of the House Ethics Committee declared they had to undo the change "only because one reporter who makes a living jacking people up about these trips" wrote about it. Slate said Shane's work "more or less single-handedly got the House to back off a loosening of an ethics rule."
He received the National Press Club's Sandy Hume Award for Excellence in Political Journalism for the work.
Here is a collection of pieces on congressional travel:
Congress Quietly Deletes a Key Disclosure of Free Trips Lawmakers Take (6/30/2014)
It's going to be a little more difficult to ferret out which members of Congress are lavished with all-expenses-paid trips around the world after the House has quietly stripped away the requirement that such privately sponsored travel be included on lawmakers' annual financial-disclosure forms.
Reaction: Nancy Pelosi Says Decision to Delete Reporting Requirement for Free Trips 'Must Be Reversed' (7/1/2014)
Result: Ethics Chair: House Will Reverse Itself on Disclosure of Free Trips (7/3/2014)
MAGAZINE COVER: How Lobbyists Still Fly Through Loopholes (1/10/2014)
A National Journal investigation has found that despite efforts to clip the wings of congressional travel planned and paid for by special interests, lawmakers are again taking flight. Indeed, the reality is that lobbyists who can't legally buy a lawmaker a sandwich can still escort members on trips all around the world.
Flight Risks: When Foreign Governments Host U.S. lawmakers (9/12/2014)
According to a National Journal review of public records—including every lawmaker's financial-disclosure form—members took at least 52 trips in 2013 that were funded by foreign governments. That figure represents a tenfold jump from only a few years ago and twice as many as in 2011, the previous recent year with the most foreign-government-funded trips.
Charlie Rangel Failed to Report All-Expenses-Paid Trip to China (6/26/2014)
Rep. Charles Rangel, who was publicly admonished four years ago by the Ethics Committee for accepting improper travel, has failed to report an all-expenses-paid trip he took to China last year.
Result: Rangel's office said he would amend his report to include the trip.
Meet the Man Who Sends Congress to China (1/30/2014)
For more than two decades, Richard G. Quick has led a nonprofit that has raised big bucks from big businesses to take the nation's leaders to Asia. For just as long, he's provided the corporations bankrolling his operations, and sometimes their lobbyists, a special spot on the itinerary.
Congress Took More Free Trips in 2013 Than in Any Year Since the Abramoff Reforms (2/3/2014)
The tally: 1,887 trips at a cost of $6 million, new data from LegiStorm shows.