While hard-working federal employees at the Department of Homeland Security are scraping by without full paychecks amid this partial government shutdown, dozens of out-of-touch members of Congress decided it was the perfect time for a lavish, taxpayer-funded vacation overseas.
Left-wing TMZ continued to flip the script and has gone international with their investigation into congressional junkets, and what they uncovered is pure DC swamp corruption at its finest.
Approximately 30 members of Congress were caught red-handed touring Edinburgh Castle in Scotland while the rest of America deals with the chaos they created by failing to fund critical agencies.
According to TMZ’s investigation, the trip involved a congressional delegation (CODEL), meaning it was government-funded.
Now, photos have surfaced identifying several of the lawmakers on the trip.
- Jason Smith (R-MO)
- Derrick Van Orden (R-WI)
- Claudia Tenney (R-NY)
- David Rouzer (R-NC)
- Bill Huizenga (R-MI)
- John McGuire (R-VA)
Exclusive: 30 members of Congress are in Scotland on taxpayers’ dime amid the shutdown.
Take a look: https://t.co/kn43aWI9nx pic.twitter.com/VBjtVRx9S7
— TMZ (@TMZ) April 1, 2026
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. The way we see it, a shutdown is a 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.”
Van Orden also told us he voted 4 times to fund DHS. To that we say … it’s not one party that is at fault here, it’s BOTH, because they can’t compromise and therefore do their job.
WATCH:
TMZ is still hunting for footage of vacationing members of Congress and it’s now gone international. About 30 lawmakers were spotted touring a castle in Scotland and guess who’s footing the bill? YOU. pic.twitter.com/oONy6uCMpy
— TMZ (@TMZ) April 2, 2026
According to TMZ’s reporting, Cory Booker was seen with his wife, Alexis Lewis, dining at a restaurant inside The London West Hollywood at Beverly Hills on Thursday, April 2.
More from Yahoo News:
In TMZ’s latest update, Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) was seen with his wife Alexis Lewis at a restaurant inside The London West Hollywood at Beverly Hills on Thursday, April 2, and it looks like they may have just finished a workout. Booker is allegedly staying at the chic hotel before he is scheduled to appear April 3 in Santa Monica for a book tour.
Rep. John James (R-Mich.) was photographed Wednesday, April 1, taking in the sun in Turks and Caicos, where he is allegedly on a family vacation.
[…]
Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) was photographed earlier this week at his son’s basketball game.
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