After the train derailment that blanketed East Palestine in toxic fumes, Norfolk Southern has undertaken a massive cleanup operation. Still, residents complain of ongoing symptoms that they attribute to chemical exposure and question the long-term health consequences.
The Howard Center for Investigative Journalism
Two years after derailment, trains with toxic chemicals still roll through East Palestine
After a Norfolk Southern train derailment spewed a toxic cloud that drove thousands in East Palestine from their homes, freight trains with the same chemicals central to that disaster roll through town — with few steps taken by lawmakers to prevent another disaster.
Explore Congressional Travel in Searchable Database
U.S. representatives — and their family members and staff — have taken 17,078 trips since 2012 that were paid for by private parties, many of them nonprofits with deep ties to lobbyists and special interests. Use our interactive database to explore details.
Tech lobby uses glitzy electronics show to woo key house policymakers
Each year, dozens of House staffers attend the glitzy Consumer Electronics Show at the Las Vegas Convention Center on trips paid for by the Consumer Technology Association, a registered lobbying organization whose members include Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Meta.
Members of Congress have taken hundreds of AIPAC-funded trips to Israel in the past decade
On June 16, as Benjamin Netanyahu continued his year-long defiance of Joe Biden over the war in Gaza, eight U.S. House members and two staffers arrived at Tel Aviv’s luxurious Kempinski Hotel for a four-day immersion in Israeli politics. The lawmakers and…
Sugar industry pays for House trips to help safeguard subsidies
Groups associated with sugar growers and refiners have spent tens of thousands of dollars for hundreds of U.S. House staff to tour muddy sugar cane fields in Louisiana and Florida and sugar beet factories in Minnesota, according to an analysis of House travel disclosure data from 2012 through 2023 compiled by the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at the University of Maryland.
Planes, trains and luxury stays: Despite reforms, lobbyists still involved in House travel
Congressional reforms passed nearly 20 years ago were supposed to severely restrict the role of lobbyists in congressional trips. A new investigation shows those reforms aren’t working.
When House members travel the globe on private dime, families often go too
The spouses, children and siblings of U.S. House members are traveling around the world on trips paid for by special interest groups. Critics say the practice amounts to “influence-peddling vacations.’’
Think tanks, often funded by foreign governments, send House members on trips around the world
Private funders paid for a member of the U.S. House of Representatives or their staff to travel overseas more than 4,000 times in the past decade. The bill for the vast majority of those trips was footed by nonprofit organizations, including prestigious think tanks that receive foreign government funding.
Lobbyists use nonprofits to sponsor trips for House, revealing blind spot in ethics rules
U.S. representatives and their staff have taken at least 17,000 trips since 2012 that were paid for by private parties, many of them nonprofits with deep ties to lobbyists and special interests.