Part of: The House Ethics reimbursement investigation (2025-2026) · House Ethics Committee Investigation of Rep. Nancy Mace (OCC Review 25-5681) · The House Ethics Investigation
Ethics Committee releases OCC report: Mace billed the max, exceeded actual costs by $9,485.46
The House Ethics Committee publicly released the OCC's full report finding substantial reason to believe Rep. Nancy Mace claimed the maximum allowable lodging reimbursement every month she filed, exceeding the D.C. property's actual expenses by $9,485.46 across four months in 2024. Mace, her former chief of staff, and two other former staffers all refused to cooperate. The OCC recommended subpoenas for all four.
FOX Carolina News, March 2, 2026.
"Rep. Mace requested and received the maximum allowable reimbursement for each month she filed a reimbursement request form."
That is the finding of the Office of Congressional Conduct in Review No. 25-5681, released publicly by the House Ethics Committee on March 2, 2026. The OCC calculated that in 2024, Mace's reimbursement requests exceeded the D.C. property's actual expenses in January, March, April, and May, amounting to an excess of $9,485.46.
The bipartisan OCC Board had voted 6-0 on November 18, 2025 to find "substantial reason to believe that Rep. Mace engaged in improper reimbursement practices" and to refer the matter to the Committee on Ethics. The Committee publicly announced an expanded review the same day it released the report.
The property and the MRA. The Members' Representational Allowance is the official budget House members receive for the costs of running a congressional office, including D.C. lodging. Mace filed reimbursement requests for stays at a D.C. property she co-owned with her then-fiancé. The OCC reviewed whether her reimbursement requests matched what she actually incurred.
Always the maximum. The OCC found Mace requested the maximum allowable reimbursement every single month she filed a form. The report noted correspondence between Mace and the former fiancé's accountant (referred to in the report as Witness 3) indicating that a figure of $2,462.94 per month, based on the 2022 costs of the property, was the amount she was entitled to request. Yet for four months in 2024, her reimbursement requests exceeded even that figure. In 2023, the OCC identified excess months in January, February, March, May, June, September, October, and November.
The staffer's account. A former Mace staffer who assisted with the reimbursement forms told OCC investigators, in a verbatim transcript quote at paragraph 31:
"So when I first started filling out these forms, the Congresswoman and the Chief of Staff would always talk about how it doesn't even come close to covering her living costs. And so when they checked over, I made sure that they never went over her current living costs. So the max out was, according to them, accurate."
The OCC report cited this testimony as evidence that the instruction to file for the maximum came from Mace and her chief of staff, not from a staffer acting on his or her own initiative.
The payment question. The OCC also reviewed correspondence (¶25) indicating that as of October 5, 2023, while Mace had been receiving House reimbursements for her lodging expenses, she had not contributed the reimbursed funds to the bank account associated with the D.C. property. Utility bills for the property were largely in the former fiancé's name and paid from the joint account, the report noted.
Refusal to cooperate, and a subpoena recommendation. Because Mace refused to be interviewed, the OCC stated it "was unable to determine how or why Rep. Mace decided to seek the maximum allowable reimbursement when it exceeded her expenses incurred." The following individuals and entities also refused to cooperate with the OCC's review: former chief of staff Daniel Hanlon; former staffers Lorie Khatod and Richard Chalkey. The OCC recommended that the Ethics Committee issue subpoenas to all four.
Applicable law. In connection with Rep. Mace's reimbursement requests, the report cited potential violations of 18 U.S.C. § 1001 (false statements to the federal government), 18 U.S.C. § 641 (conversion of public money or property), 31 U.S.C. § 1301 (appropriations law), and House Rule 23, clauses 1 and 2. The cited statutes relate to Rep. Mace's conduct, not to the former staffers, who are identified only as having declined to cooperate with the review.
Named officials. OCC Staff Director and Chief Counsel Omar S. Ashmawy presented the referral. Ethics Committee Chairman Michael Guest (R-MS) and Ranking Member Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA) issued the joint press release announcing the public release and expanded review.
Mace's denial. Through counsel William M. Sullivan Jr. of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, Mace called the report "fundamentally flawed." Sullivan said in a December 17, 2025 letter, reported by the Washington Examiner and WIS-TV, that the report "appears to incorporate unverified assertions and materials that may have originated from, or been influenced by, Rep. Mace's former fiancé." Mace has denied any wrongdoing.
The "substantial reason to believe" standard is the OCC's referral threshold, it is not a finding that Mace violated any law or House rule. The House Ethics Committee has made no such finding. The investigation is ongoing.
Sources: OCC Report and Findings, Rep. Mace, full PDF (ethics.house.gov) · House Ethics Committee, Chair/Ranking Member statement (Mar. 2, 2026) · The Post and Courier · Roll Call (Mar. 2, 2026) · Washington Examiner, Rachel Schilke · WIS-TV, Marley Bassett | Ethics Investigation hub · House Ethics Investigation
