Best views, weather, etc. How to test them 👓 SC, Ala. sites look back Betty Ford honored
WASHINGTON
Martin Heinrich

Sen. Heinrich repays $1,900 in improper travel costs

Paul Singer
USA TODAY
Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., is photographed in his office on Capitol Hill March 11, 2015.

WASHINGTON — Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., has repaid the U.S. Treasury $1,900 for improper travel reimbursements he received since January 2013 after USA TODAY brought the expenses to his attention, the senator's spokeswoman said Thursday.

Heinrich's office spending reports contain a long series of small-dollar transactions for travel reimbursement, which led USA TODAY to inquire whether he was being repaid for personal commuting. Senate rules prohibit lawmakers from accepting reimbursements for their own commute from home to work, or for other personal trips. USA TODAY has been examining Senate travel expenses as background for a series of stories about 2016 presidential contenders who have served in the Senate.

In response to the inquiry, Heinrich conducted a full review of his transportation expenses and concluded there were erroneous payments.

"After a very thorough examination of office records, it became clear that proper protocols weren't in place, which resulted in the senator being reimbursed incorrectly for some taxis and ride shares between January 3, 2013, and March 31, 2015," said spokeswoman Whitney Potter. "Senator Heinrich has decided to repay all reimbursements that could not be definitively identified as a taxi or ride share he took for official purposes. He takes full responsibility for this mistake and has written a check to repay $1,909.69."

Heinrich apologized for the errors.

Prep for the polls: See who is running for president and compare where they stand on key issues in our Voter Guide

"I'm sorry about this mistake," he said in a statement. "I swiftly took action to correct the problem and I have repaid the amount in full. I know that the best thing to do when mistakes are made is to own, fix, and learn from them."

His office has established new procedures "to ensure full compliance with the rules," Potter said.

In general, she said, Heinrich uses taxis and public transportation to get around Washington, as he does not have a driver on staff.

Heinrich was elected to the Senate in 2012 after four years in the U.S. House. National Journal's annual vote rankings placed Heinrich squarely in the center of the Senate ideologically, raking him the 41st most liberal senator.

He is perhaps best known for agreeing to be stranded on a deserted Pacific island with Republican Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona for a 2014 Discovery Channel program called Rival Survival. The show was billed as demonstrating how two senators "put their political differences aside to survive on an uninhabited island."

The Secretary of the Senate reports expenditures for each office twice a year in large volumes that are posted online. The non-profit Sunlight Foundation converts those records into data sets that USA TODAY used for this story.

Featured Weekly Ad