Incoming House Dem plans to ‘couch surf’ for first months in Congress
Heather Hunter
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Rep.-elect Maxwell Frost (D-FL) revealed that he will likely have to “couch surf” for his first few months in Washington D.C. after being sworn in, having been rejected from an apartment due to bad credit.
“It’s not cheap. I’m dealing with it right now — getting denied from apartments and trying to figure out where to live because I have bad credit,” he told ABC’s This Week on Sunday morning. “Probably going to have to couch surf for a little bit.”
REP.-ELECT MAXWELL FROST SAYS HE WAS DENIED APARTMENT IN PRICEY DC
The incoming congressman has been open about his recent struggles while trying to move to one of the nation’s most expensive housing markets.
“Just applied to an apartment in DC where I told the guy that my credit was really bad,” Frost tweeted earlier this month. “He said I’d be fine. Got denied, lost the apartment, and the application fee. This ain’t meant for people who don’t already have money.”
https://twitter.com/MaxwellFrostFL/status/1609586835696541696
Frost was criticized by a Republican National Committee-aligned Twitter account for his “couch surf” plans, which wrote in a tweet that Frost will have a salary of $174,000 a year.
“So out of touch that they don’t understand how renting an apartment works,” the Florida Democrat responded. “I don’t get my first paycheck till February and I don’t have a lot of money. When you move into an apartment, you pay first, deposit, sometimes last, and for furniture.”
“I find it interesting that the ‘pull yourself up by your bootstraps’ people take issue with me staying with friends until I save up enough to get an apartment,” Frost tweeted later that day.
https://twitter.com/MaxwellFrostFL/status/1600890367586406400
Frost, a progressive gun control activist and who worked part-time as an Uber driver to afford campaign costs during the last election, will be making history as the first Gen Z member elected to Congress.
“I’m feeling the love especially from a lot of the Democrats and especially in the different caucuses I’m joining,” Frost told the network.
Frost is not the first lawmaker to struggle with Washington’s steep cost of living. Numerous lawmakers have lived in their Capitol Hill offices, using futons or buying a Murphy bed for their office.
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In 2018, the New York Post estimated that around 100 representatives lived in their offices on Capitol Hill. The list included House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI), House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), and Reps. Dan Donovan (R-NY), Gregory Meeks (D-NY), Lee Zeldin (R-NY), John Katko (R-NY) and Brian Higgins (D-NY).
When now-South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem was in Congress, she slept on a pullout in her office and used the member’s gym facilities to shower.