RNC hits Obama for embracing Coburn spending limit for conferences

The Republican National Committee is out Monday with a statement blasting the Obama administration’s new $500,000 limit on agency conferences as too generous.

The problem with this, a Democrat points out, is that a reform bill authored by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) in the House and a companion measure offered by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), also contained the $500,000 limit.

In April, the head of the General Services Administration resigned in the wake of revelations that a 2010 GSA conference cost almost $823,000. On Friday, the Obama administration issued new agency guidance limiting travel and conference expensing.

The  guidance also requires agencies to decrease spending on travel by 30 percent, requires deputy secretaries to review any conference where the agency spending could exceed $100,000 and requires public disclosure of such conferences.

“At $500,000 per conference, 'Debt King' Obama is setting such a strict spending limit that next year’s GSA conference will be forced to decide: mindreader or magician, not both. With wasteful policies like this it’s not hard to figure out why Obama has run the three largest deficits in history,” RNC spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski said Monday in reaction.

In late April, the Senate agreed to a Coburn amendment to the Postal Reform bill that capped conference spending at $500,000.

Kukowski pointed out in an email that the Issa bill has the force of law and is stronger than executive guidance. She also noted that the administration allows a waiver of the limit, something the bill does not. The bill also requires more frequent reporting on conference spending.

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