Ocasio-Cortez Must Pay Another $2,700 for Met Gala Dress

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez made a splash when she arrived at the 2021 Met Gala in a designer dress with “Tax the Rich” emblazoned across the back. Four years later, she is still settling the bill.

Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat and leader of her party’s progressive wing, personally paid about $1,000 to rent the dress and accessories. But in a report released on Friday, the bipartisan House Ethics Committee concluded her initial payment had fallen short of the fair market rate, violating House rules.

While the committee found no reason to believe that Ms. Ocasio-Cortez was trying to stiff the vendors, it wrote that “it would be appropriate” for her to pay an additional $2,733.28 to cover what it determined was the full value of her outfit.

The panel also urged the congresswoman to make a $250 donation to the Met’s Costume Institute, the beneficiary of the star-studded annual gala, to cover the cost of a meal for her partner, Riley Roberts, who accompanied her. Once she did, the panel would close the yearslong investigation, it said.

“While the committee did not find that Representative Ocasio-Cortez’s violations were knowing and willful, she nonetheless received impermissible gifts and must bear responsibility for the other conduct that occurred with respect to the delays in payment,” the 31-page report said.

Mike Casca, the congresswoman’s chief of staff, stressed that the committee noted she had tried to comply with House rules. Still, he said she would personally take responsibility for the outstanding balance.

“She accepts the ruling and will remedy the remaining amounts, as she’s done at each step in this process,” he said.

The annual event at the Metropolitan Museum of Art is a global spectacle often called the Oscars of fashion. The evening is overseen by Anna Wintour, Vogue’s global editorial director, and tickets cost $35,000 a piece.

Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, 35, attracted international attention when she attended in fall 2021. Typically, attendees are dressed in custom-made garments at the expense of the designer, who often also covers the cost of admission.

However, House ethics rules prevent members of Congress from accepting gifts such as “a gratuity, favor, discount, entertainment, hospitality, loan, forbearance or other item having monetary value.”

Lawmakers and their spouses are permitted to attend charity events, but only if invited by the organization hosting the event. In this case, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez and Mr. Roberts were guests of Ms. Wintour and allowed to attend.

Investigators said that Ms. Ocasio-Cortez and her staff had been mindful of the rules and were determined to pay for her gown and related costs incurred by the designer, Aurora James, and her company, Brother Vellies.

Rather than simply accepting the dress as a gift, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez asked to “rent” it and personally cover other costs associated with the evening. But investigators who began looking at the matter in 2022 found that despite “significant” attempts to comply with the gift rules, the congresswoman and her staff fell short.

There were delayed payments, in some cases until after the investigation began. The committee found evidence that the designer “may have lowered costs” in response to questions from the congresswoman’s aide.

Her case presented the committee with an unusual challenge. The report noted that while her staff asked vendors to “keep costs down,” her lawyer told them that “it proved to be exceptionally difficult to educate vendors on the ethical requirements that the congresswoman is subject to.”

The lawyer told the committee that her team was repeatedly told, “‘Met Gala attendees don’t normally pay for this.’”

Ms. Ocasio-Cortez initially paid about $990.76 to rent the gown, shoes, a handbag, jewelry and a floral hairpiece. But the committee conducted its own analysis and concluded the fair market value was far higher. The dress would have cost $18,837.30 to buy, it said, so the rental value was $2,976.29. Other costs brought the total due to $3,724.04, according to the committee.

“Representative Ocasio-Cortez’s attempt to apply a retail rental cost to a handmade couture gown was unrealistic,” the report said.