Aaron Schock Breaks 223-Year-Old Record as Youngest Person to Resign a Congressional Seat

Thursday, March 19, 2015
Rep. Aaron Schock (AP photo)

Republican U.S. Representative Aaron Schock of Illinois is leaving Congress and making history in the process.

 

Schock, 33, has been accused of spending taxpayer funds on redesigning his office with a “Downton Abbey” theme, claiming reimbursement for more miles than his car had been driven, paying for a personal photographer out of congressional office funds and other misspending, according to Carrie Levine at the Center for Public Integrity. He resigned Tuesday, breaking a 223-year-old record by becoming the youngest member of the House or Senate to step down before the end of a Congress, according to The Washington Post.

 

The previous record-holder was John Brown of Kentucky, who resigned from the House in 1792 at the age of 35 to join the U.S. Senate.

 

Schock is also the youngest member to quit as a result of alleged wrongdoing. Republican Trey Radel of Florida had been the youngest when he resigned last year at the age of 37 following his arrest for cocaine possession.

 

Prior to his downfall, Schock was known by some as the nation’s “fittest congressman” after he posed shirtless for Men’s Health.

 

Don’t feel too bad for Schock though. Despite his brief six-plus-year tenure in Congress, he’ll still be eligible for a pension courtesy of the American taxpayers. If he starts collecting at age 62, he’ll get $18,500 a year. And he might qualify as the fittest former congressman—he’ll still have access to the congressional gym.

-Noel Brinkerhoff, Steve Straehley

 

To Learn More:

Aaron Schock Is the Youngest Ever to Leave Congress Early (by Philip Bump, Washington Post)

Aaron Schock Still Gets Taxpayer-Funded Pension (by Carrie Levine, Center for Public Integrity)

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