On the house

Politics: Bonds formed at The Fellowship's notable C Street residence could play a factor in upcoming Kansas Senate race | Emily Belz

Newscom

Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Kan., had three growing children when he first joined the House of Representatives in 1994. Flying back and forth between Kansas and Washington on the weekends, he found that he had little time to be with his family. So his family moved to Washington. "It's always been important that I spend as much time as possible with my kids. I didn't want to turn that over to somebody else," Tiahrt told me.

Rep. Jerry Moran, another Kansas Republican, took office in 1997 and had two young daughters. His family stayed in Hays, Kan., he told me, because he and his wife didn't want to raise them in the "crazy" environment of Washington. Moran moved into the C Street house run by The Fellowship Foundation. Three members of Congress who lived or attended gatherings there have been exposed as having extramarital affairs while part of a housing arrangement designed in part to bring accountability among politicians away from their families ("All in the family," Aug. 29, 2009).