Ex-Dem senator's PAC splurges on luxury perks while skirting hefty tax bill ahead of potential comeback bid

FIRST ON FOX: Former Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, who has long promoted fiscal responsibility and supported tax hikes on families and small businesses, failed to pay a $50,000 tax bill on time while spending nearly $500,000 on consultants and luxury perks, including lodging at a Los Angeles hotel and New York City catering.

In March 2025, after he was ousted from the Senate by a pro-MAGA candidate, current Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, last November, Brown converted his "Friends of Sherrod Brown" campaign fundraising account into a political action committee called Dignity of Work PAC. Following the move, a spokesperson for the Columbus-area Democrat told local Ohio media that, despite the fiscal changes, Brown was not ruling out a re-election bid.     

Meanwhile, during the first half of 2025, Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings show Brown's Dignity of Work PAC spent lavishly on hotels in D.C., San Francisco and on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, including one establishment where the cheapest rooms went for around $600 per night. Spending from the PAC also included thousands for catering services around the country, such as nearly $6,000 to an Ohio whiskey distillery. The PAC also spent thousands of dollars on catering in D.C. and New York City.

At the same time, the Dignity of Work PAC spent hundreds-of-thousands of dollars on expenses that could be used for re-election purposes.

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According to a representative for the PAC, the $50,000 tax bill incurred during this period, which includes taxes owed to both the District of Columbia and the federal government, while late, was eventually paid in full by July – after the mid-year reporting period ended. The representative said the now-paid-for debt would be reflected in its year-end filing with the FEC.

"Sherrod Brown has spent decades advocating for the rich to pay more in taxes yet failed to pay his organization’s taxes on time – all while spending lavishly at luxury hotels in major cities," said Caitlin Sutherland, executive director of conservative nonprofit Americans for Public Trust. "This is the exact type of hypocrisy that everyday Americans are sick of. Ordinary taxpayers would face serious consequences for a missed tax payment, but limousine liberals like Sherrod Brown expect to skate by."

The former Ohio senator's recent delinquency would not be the first time he has been late to pay his taxes.

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In 2023, NBC News reported that Brown was late on property tax payments for his Cleveland home at least seven times. Brown also reportedly improperly claimed an owner-occupancy tax credit on multiple properties, per public records.

While running for re-election in 2012, Brown's Republican opponent, Josh Mandel, called the then-incumbent senator "a serial delinquent when it comes to not paying his property taxes" because he "failed to pay his own taxes three separate times." The claim was subsequently investigated by liberal-leaning fact-checker PolitiFact and was determined to be "true."

"The irony is not lost on us that Sherrod Brown, who’s only ever held a taxpayer-funded job and who voted repeatedly to raise taxes on Ohio families, has all along refused to pay his own tax bill," Chris Gustafson, communications director for Senate Republicans' main campaign fundraising arm, the Senate Leadership Fund, told Fox News Digital. 

Election finance experts Fox News Digital spoke with surmised that while Brown's late payment may look bad, it does not necessarily appear to present any sort of campaign finance violation.  

"I don’t necessarily see a violation of campaign finance rules although this is certainly evidence of financial mismanagement and luxury spending that, if I were a donor, would upset me," Hans von Spakovsky, former commissioner of the FEC, said.

However, one expert did suggest that if the 527 organization's income or assets were being used for the personal benefit of insiders, it could be a legal issue.

"They can't be just lavishing, you know, a super lifestyle on somebody," said James Bopp Jr., a campaign finance attorney in Indiana who has sued the FEC multiple times. "Even though the event may be something he could go to, and get reasonable reimbursement for his expenses for going there, it's not to subsidize a lavish lifestyle. And that's personal inurement. So there is a legal issue on the reasonableness of the expenses."

Brown, who, while previously in Congress, voted against major tax-cut legislation and in favor of a Clinton-era budget that included tax increases, was reported this week as planning a run to regain his spot in the U.S. Senate after losing to Moreno by roughly four percentage points.

As a senator, Brown also slammed Republicans for fiscal mismanagement and corruption.  

"This is a Republican Party that is intrinsically corrupt," Brown reportedly said in 2020. 

If selected as the Democratic Party's candidate, Brown's likely GOP opponent would be Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, who was appointed to fill Vice President JD Vance's seat after he left for the White House. A 2026 special election will decide who will serve out the remainder of Vance's term, which lasts until 2029.