Swalwell reimburses himself for childcare to the tune of 200k; more pricey personal perks revealed
February 4, 2026 | Kevin Haggerty
California Rep. Eric Swalwell’s (D) gubernatorial campaign prompted renewed scrutiny of six-figure reimbursements for questionable family expenses that could prove a “slippery slope.”
At the crossroads of civil service and get-rich-quick schemes, the American people have seen numerous rags-to-riches stories, including a number of current officeholders under investigation. Amid Swalwell’s bid to replace term-limited California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), a campaign finance expert challenged childcare reimbursements after more than $200,000 went toward seemingly “creating a special class of politicians.”
Allen Mendenhall, Capital Markets Initiative senior adviser and research fellow at the Heritage Foundation’s Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies, made the case to Fox News Digital that the lawmaker’s expenses between 2019 and 2025 amounted to “an expense that candidates with young children will incur regardless of whether they’re in a campaign.”
“I have childcare costs. Many people have childcare costs, and we can’t just use this other money to subsidize our things,” he said as Swalwell’s Federal Election Commission records showed him spending $22,000 on care from October 2025 through December 2025 alone. “The danger here is creating a special class of politicians who are insulated from normal constraints, ordinary constraints that everybody else has to deal with.”
As previously reported, the congressman, who had faced an FEC complaint that was ultimately dismissed, was called out after the 2022 election cycle for expenses amounting to roughly $580,000, which included five-star hotel accommodations, gourmet meals, and, of course, his childcare.
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https://www.bizpacreview.com/2026/02/04/swalwell-reimburses-himself-for-childcare-to-the-tune-of-200k-more-pricey-personal-perks-revealed-1620064/
