Texas Representative Breaks Rules in Awarding Scholarships to Relatives

A longtime Democratic U.S. congresswoman, Eddie Bernice Johnson, has admitted violating rules in awarding thousands of dollars in college scholarships to four relatives and two children of a top aide since 2005, The Dallas Morning News reports. The scholarship money is provided by the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, which gives each member $10,000 a year to divvy up as he or she likes. However, scholarship rules disqualify relatives or people who don’t live or study in the member’s district. The scholarships Ms. Johnson awarded violated both of those eligibility rules, according to Amy Goldson, the foundation’s general counsel. Ms. Johnson said that the violations were inadvertent and that she would take steps to “rectify the financial situation.”