A congressman who ran on a promise of giving constituents full-time representation has been absent from the Capitol for most of this year, according to a new report.
Rep. Kai Kahele, D-Hawaii, has rarely shown up for work in Washington D.C. this year, only casting five votes in person over the course of three days in January, according to an analysis from the Honolulu Civil Beat.
The rest of his 120 votes were cast by proxy, which means a colleague voted on his behalf while he stayed back in Hawaii.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has permitted proxy voting since the start of the pandemic, whereas in-person voting is still required in the Senate.
Kahele, a combat veteran, apparently never gave up his job as a Hawaiian Airlines pilot where, according to the Civil Beat, he earned $120,000 in 2020, the year he was elected to Congress. His salary as a member of congress is $174,000.
His failure to show up for work in Congress has coincided with Kahele reportedly mulling a run for governor in 2022, though he has not made any formal announcement.
Neither Kahele nor his spokesperson responded to Fox News’ requests for comments on Tuesday.
His absence from Washington is a sharp turn for Kahele who entered Congress in 2021 with stated intentions of moving his wife and three daughters to D.C. to avoid the grueling 13-hour commute every week from his hometown of Hilo.
During an interview with Fox News during freshman orientation in late 2020, Kahele said he envisioned hosting barbecues, going to church and playing baseball with fellow lawmakers in the hope that friendships can give way to bipartisanship.
This is an excerpt from Fox News.
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