In the six years since Rep. Eric Swalwell (D., Calif.) began earning the big salary that comes with being a member of Congress he has failed to pay down his student loans, cashed out his pension, and accumulated credit card debt.
Swalwell graduated from law school in 2006 and was first elected to Congress in 2012. He spent the years in between as an Alameda County prosecutor and town council member in Dublin, Calif.—which earned him $118,548 in his last full year of work. The 38-year-old congressman began earning even more, $174,000-a-year, when he entered Congress in 2013, but his annual disclosure forms show his financial situation has worsened.
Swalwell has failed to significantly pay down his biggest debt—the $50,001 to $100,000 worth of student loan debt he owed when he first ran for Congress in 2011 still remains at the same level. He has also lost his largest asset—the $15,001 to $50,000 he had invested an Alameda County pension fund when he first ran was cashed out in 2013.
Swalwell in 2016 reported an investment of between $15,001 and $50,000 in a Vanguard retirement account, but he at the same time began to report significant credit card debt.
Appearing for the first time on his 2016 disclosure is between $10,001 and $15,000 in credit card debt with American Express, and between $10,001 and $15,000 in credit card debt with Chase Bank. – READ MORE