US Representative Tim Burchett appeared on Joe Rogan‘s podcast and made a candid admission that caught many listeners off guard: he cannot afford to live in Washington, D.C.
“I sleep on my couch in my office and I shower in the gym,” Burchett told Rogan. “I don’t have a place. I can’t afford it. It’s too expensive up there.”
Burchett, who represents Tennessee’s 2nd congressional district and has been in Congress for eight years, described D.C. housing as simply out of reach for someone with his financial background. He recalled a conversation with a fellow congressman shortly after being elected that illustrated just how wide the financial gap can be between colleagues on Capitol Hill.
“I got elected with a guy one time and he said, when we got elected, he said, ‘Hey Burchett, I just paid $1.2 million for this place. What do you think?'” Burchett said. “And I know he was just bragging to me, because no way I could do something like that.”
Rather than expressing resentment, Burchett responded with a knowing observation about D.C. real estate. “I said, ‘Well, probably in a couple years they’re going to say, I can’t believe you only paid $1.2 million for it, because the price of that real estate up there is just crazy. It is crazy.'”
He summed up the culture plainly: “It’s a rich man’s game. It is really a rich man’s game.”
Rogan pressed further on the psychological weight of being surrounded by wealth. “The problem with being around rich men is even if you’re rich, you don’t feel like you’re rich in comparison to them,” Rogan said. “And so if you’re worth a couple million and this guy over here is worth 50, you’re like, ‘Damn, I got to up my game.'”
Burchett agreed, and the two connected that pressure to the broader financial culture that runs through Congress. “$170,000 doesn’t go as far as it used to, I guess,” Burchett observed.
Rogan responded simply: “And they just human nature. You want more. People want more.”
The congressman from East Tennessee has long positioned himself as outside the typical D.C. mold. He has noted that most of his campaign contributions are $25 donations, often with a Bible verse wrapped around them.
He also pointed to a moment that he found telling about congressional priorities. After being told by ethics officials he could not sell the handmade skateboards he builds in his barn, he responded: “So you’re telling me I can do insider stock trading, but I can’t sell a dad gum skateboard. And the guy said, ‘That’s correct.'”
