Mr. Millennial went to Congress in 2009. But just months after winning a fourth term, Rep. Aaron Schock, 33, a Peoria Republican, is resigning amid a swirl of questions about how he was spending his time and taxpayer money on everything from travel to redecorating his office.
Schock, the first person elected to Congress who was born in the 1980s, was considered an adept practitioner of social media, fueling controversy by posting many selfies in far-flung locales.
Here are five moments from Schock’s political career:
On Monday, Buzzfeed reported that Schock spent more than $5,000 from his House of Representatives account for a portable podium that looks a lot like a presidential podium used by President Obama.
Earlier this month, the congressman reimbursed the U.S. government for more than $1,200 in travel expenses between Peoria and Chicago to attend November’s Bears-Vikings game. Schock previously charged the private air travel to his House office account, which is funded by taxpayers. Questions came up about why taxpayers would be billed for a trip to Chicago when Schock represents the Peoria and Springfield areas at least 150 miles away.
Schock’s flamboyance caught up with him in February, when a “Downton Abbey” makeover of his congressional digs mushroomed into a social media frenzy over the redesign and a watchdog group’s launching an ethics complaint; he eventually had to write a $40,000 check from a personal account to cover the redecoration tab. First reported by The Washington Post, the story prompted closer media scrutiny of his travel and expenses.
Schock visited at least nine foreign countries since the beginning of 2014, sometimes on government business, sometimes for pleasure, a Chicago Tribune review found. The lawmaker still faces allegations that he did not properly account for his trips and did not conform to requirements on the use of private aircraft.
Schock appeared shirtless in the June 2011 Men’s Health magazine—whose cover called him “America’s FITTEST CONGRESSMAN.” And it’s AB-solutely stunning.
Sources: Associated Press, Chicago Tribune, New York Times, Chicago Sun-Times
![There’ll be more than one story to write about “Sundance Institute x Chicago,” coming to town June 28-30. Consider these to be some preliminary questions to be answered in a couple of months. A sort of pop-up import, sponsored by the Chicago Film Office and Choose Chicago, the city’s tourism bureau, “Sundance Institute x Chicago” is the power of branding incarnate. The event will consist of a modest four-screening package of titles that premiered in January at the annual Sundance Film Festival of Park City, Utah fame. The off-screen activity’s the apparent bigger deal: panels, discussions, filmmaker-centric meetups, patterned after […]](https://www.chicagotribune.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/CTC-L-Sundance-01.jpg?w=579 "There’ll be more than one story to write about “Sundance Institute x Chicago,” coming to town June 28-30. Consider these to be some preliminary questions to be answered in a couple of months. A sort of pop-up import, sponsored by the Chicago Film Office and Choose Chicago, the city’s tourism bureau, “Sundance Institute x Chicago” is the power of branding incarnate. The event will consist of a modest four-screening package of titles that premiered in January at the annual Sundance Film Festival of Park City, Utah fame. The off-screen activity’s the apparent bigger deal: panels, discussions, filmmaker-centric meetups, patterned after […]")
