Republicans may be some weird sub-species of humans

House Will Spend More Investigating Benghazi Than On Ethics, Veterans, The Budget, Or Science (Click here to read more)

By Igor Volsky July 8, 2014 at 11:25 am Updated: July 8, 2014 at 11:37 am
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The House could spend up to $3.3 million in taxpayer dollars over seven months on a special committee to investigate the Sep. 2011 attacks against the American diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya, more than lawmakers have appropriated for committees dedicated to investigating ethics and helping American veterans over an entire 12 month period.
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A ThinkProgress analysis of House spending on its 20 permanent committees from Jan. 3, 2013 to Jan. 3, 2014 finds that since Benghazi committee's full-year equivalent budget would be an estimated $5,657,142, its investigation will cost more than the budgets of nine other House committees:
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    Committee on Rules: $2,857,408
    Committee on Small Business: $2,992,688
    Committee on Ethics: $3,020,459
    Committee on Veterans' Affairs: $3,048,546
    Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence: $4,389,758
    Committee on House Administration: $4,600,560
    Committee on Agriculture: $5,036,187
    Committee on the Budget: $5,138,824
    Committee on Science, Space, and Technology: $5,282,755
    House Benghazi Panel: $5,657,142
    Committee on Natural Resources: $6,555,829
    Committee on Armed Services: $6,563,535
    Committee on Education and the Workforce: $6,952,763
    Committee on Homeland Security: $7,033,588
    Committee on the Judiciary: $7,077,016
    Committee on Foreign Affairs: $7,388,112
    Committee on Financial Services: $7,394,482
    Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure: $8,182,307
    Committee on Ways and Means: $8,423,411
    Committee on Oversight and Government Reform: $8,940,437
    Committee on Energy and Commerce: $9,520,516
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The seven House Republicans will receive a bigger share of the committee budget, $2.2 million, more than the five Democrats, who will see "just over $1 million." Funding for the committee "comes from already-appropriated legislative branch funds" a GOP spokesperson told USA Today, and does not represent a new expenditure. The spokesperson also claimed that the $3.3 million figure represents "the high end estimate," though the investigation is likely to bleed into 2015.