Lankford, the Oklahoma City Republican succeeding Rep. Mary Fallin next month, will join a growing number of lawmakers, including another Oklahoman, who sleep in their Capitol Hill offices during the periods Congress is meeting.
The main reason: money.
Like the other six members of Oklahoma’s congressional delegation, Lankford only will be in Washington for congressional business while maintaining his home back in the state.
And, because Congress often is only in town for two or three days a week and sometimes has weeks long stretches away, an apartment is seen by some lawmakers as a luxury they can’t afford.
Lankford, a former Baptist youth camp director, already has stretched his family’s finances with his yearlong campaign to win the congressional seat. Though he will start collecting his $174,000 congressional salary soon, he hasn’t had a paycheck in a long time.
