Three members of the United States House of Representatives were photographed touring Edinburgh Castle in Scotland while a partial government shutdown left thousands of federal workers without pay, according to photographs obtained by entertainment news outlet TMZ.
Representative John McGuire of Virginia, Representative Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin, and Representative David Rouzer of North Carolina were identified among a group of tourists at the historic Scottish landmark. Two sources who work on Capitol Hill encountered the congressional members during the castle tour and indicated they believed the group constituted a Congressional Delegation, commonly known as a CODEL.
The sources expressed surprise at the timing of the trip, noting that Congressional Delegations are typically canceled during government shutdowns, even partial ones. The current shutdown has affected the Department of Homeland Security, leaving federal employees in that agency without paychecks.
When contacted about the Scotland trip, Representative Van Orden responded that he participated in the travel due to personal family circumstances, stating that his wife had recently received a positive diagnosis regarding a brain cyst. He also noted that he had voted four times to fund the Department of Homeland Security.
Representatives for McGuire and Rouzer did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding the trip.
The Scotland photographs emerged as part of a broader pattern of congressional members traveling while federal workers affected by the shutdown go without pay. Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina was photographed at Disney World over the weekend, and Representative Robert Garcia of California was photographed at a bar in Las Vegas.
The Department of Homeland Security shutdown represents the latest impasse in congressional negotiations over federal funding. The failure to reach a compromise has left workers in agencies responsible for border security, immigration enforcement, cybersecurity, and disaster response without paychecks. Congressional observers have attributed the shutdown to an inability by both major political parties to negotiate effectively and reach a funding agreement.
Congressional Delegations typically serve official purposes, including diplomatic missions, fact-finding trips, and international relationship-building activities. Such trips are funded by taxpayers and require coordination with the State Department and other agencies. The circumstances and official purpose of the Scotland delegation, if it was indeed an official CODEL, remain unclear.
The photographs have drawn criticism from government accountability advocates who argue that members of Congress should remain in Washington to resolve funding disputes rather than travel internationally while federal workers face financial hardship. The optics of leisure activities during a shutdown have historically proven politically damaging to members of both parties.