Rep. Eric Swalwell, the California Democrat now running for governor, delayed federal tax payments that drew penalties, zeroed out his congressional salary withholdings, and billed his campaign committee for more child care than any other House member, all while his household pulled in an average of more than $444,000 a year.
The picture emerges from tax returns covering 2021 through 2024, campaign finance filings, and House financial disclosures reviewed by Just the News. Together, the records paint a portrait of a congressman whose spending habits raise questions about the judgment he would bring to Sacramento.
Swalwell's campaign spokesperson, Micah Beasley, framed the numbers as proof of an ordinary family stretched thin. But ordinary families earning north of $400,000 do not typically zero out their tax withholdings, drain nearly $145,000 from retirement accounts in three years, and then charge a quarter-million dollars in child care to a political campaign fund.
In 2022, Swalwell withheld just $2,580 from his congressional salary. The following year he zeroed out withholdings entirely. The delayed payments incurred federal penalties, though the exact amounts remain undisclosed.
The reason for the move is unclear. Just the News reported that it could not determine why Swalwell made the cash-raising decisions reflected in his returns. What is clear is that a sitting congressman chose to keep more cash in hand each paycheck and settle up with the IRS later, at a cost to himself and, symbolically, to the taxpayers whose money funds his salary.
His congressional pay rose from $161,648 in 2021 to $184,229 in 2024. On top of that, Swalwell reported self-employment income of up to $32,000 annually from 2022 to 2024, listed on his returns as "Administrative Office Work." Financial disclosures tie that income to an LLC linked to Spycraft Entertainment, described as "a global production company run by former senior intelligence officers from the U.S. and U.K."
His wife, Brittany Swalwell, earned salaries ranging from roughly $200,000 to $250,000 during the same period, first at Evolution Hospitality in 2021, then at the Swalwell Remedy Group from 2022 to 2024, and at Rockbridge Capital from 2023 to 2024. The household income placed the couple in the top 5% of earners in Washington, D.C., where they own a $1.2 million home.
Between 2020 and 2022, the Swalwells withdrew nearly $145,000 from their retirement accounts. The Sacramento Bee first reported the couple's average income figure and the retirement drawdowns based on the tax returns and filings.
Despite a combined income that most Americans would envy, the couple carries significant debt. Swalwell's disclosures show he has owed between $50,000 and $100,000 on student loans for more than a decade. His most recent paperwork lists credit card liabilities of $15,000 to $50,000 each with Chase and American Express. The mortgage on the D.C. home falls between $1 million and $5 million.
The Washington Free Beacon has previously documented Swalwell's persistent financial problems, noting that he carried $50,001 to $100,000 in student loan debt years after entering Congress and that his Chase credit card balance grew over time to between $15,001 and $50,000. The Free Beacon also reported that Swalwell made errors on financial disclosures, including initially failing to report the student loan debt and incorrectly listing a pension asset he had already cashed out.
None of this is illegal. But for a man who wants to run the world's fifth-largest economy, the pattern raises a fair question: If you cannot manage your own household balance sheet on $444,000 a year, why should voters trust you with California's?
From 2019 to 2025, Swalwell's campaign committee spent more than $244,000 on child care, the highest total of any House member and more than three times the amount spent by the next-closest lawmaker. In 2022 alone, the tab hit nearly $60,000.
Federal election rules do permit candidates to use campaign funds for child care, a provision expanded in recent years. Swalwell's team has not disputed the numbers. But the sheer scale stands out. Campaign donors writing checks to help elect a congressman may not realize a large share of their contributions is underwriting babysitting.
The child care line item is not the only eye-catching campaign expense. Since January 1, 2020, Swalwell's committee spent nearly $25,000 on Uber Eats and more than $105,000 on Uber rides overall, second only to House Majority Leader Steve Scalise in total Uber spending during that period.
Back in California, Swalwell rents a room in Livermore owned by another family. Since January 2023, he has reimbursed himself an average of $1,625 per month in lodging expenses from his official House spending account. House rules were expanded to allow such expenditures, but the arrangement means taxpayers are effectively covering a congressman's rent while he collects a six-figure salary and his household earns well into the top income brackets.
Beasley, the campaign spokesperson, pushed back on the scrutiny by casting Swalwell as a relatable breadwinner. He told Just the News:
"Unlike others in this race, Congressman Eric Swalwell is not a billionaire. He is a working parent raising three young children with his wife while serving in public office. Like millions of Californians, they balance mortgage payments, student loans, child care and everyday expenses."
Beasley added that Swalwell's tax returns "mirror those of a typical middle-class Californian," drawing a contrast with rivals he accused of using "offshore tax strategies" and "investments structured to minimize taxes."
The dig was aimed at billionaire Tom Steyer, one of Swalwell's rivals in the crowded Democratic gubernatorial primary. Former Rep. Katie Porter is also in the field. A California Democratic Party poll released last week showed all three Democrats tied at 10%, trailing Republicans Steve Hilton and Chad Bianco.
The "middle-class" framing is a stretch. A household averaging $444,000 a year is not middle class by any honest measure, not in California, not anywhere. Swalwell's financial stress appears to be a product of choices, not circumstances: a million-dollar-plus mortgage in D.C., persistent student loan balances he has carried for over a decade, credit card debt across two accounts, and retirement accounts raided while income was rising.
Taken individually, each line item has an explanation. Campaign-funded child care is legal. Zeroing out withholdings is legal. Drawing from a House spending account for lodging is permitted under expanded rules. Uber Eats is not a crime.
But taken together, the picture is of a lawmaker who has spent years leveraging every available pot of other people's money, campaign donors, taxpayer-funded accounts, retirement savings, to sustain a lifestyle his salary alone apparently cannot support. And when the tax bill came due, he delayed payment and absorbed penalties rather than adjust.
California voters deciding who should manage a state budget measured in hundreds of billions of dollars deserve to weigh that record. Swalwell wants to be seen as a regular guy who understands working families. His own filings suggest he understands, above all, how to spend money he does not have.
A man who cannot keep his own books straight has no business asking for the keys to Sacramento.
