Union racked up massive tab on swank DC hotel stay to battle Trump — and still lost

The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) racked up a $1.2 million tab at D.C.’s five-star Salamander Hotel during alobbyingtrip to oppose President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, a new report from the Center for Union Facts (CUF) found.

Social media postsshowthat SEIU members from around the country converged in Washington, D.C., between June 23 and June 29, 2025, to confront lawmakers and stage protests against the tax and spending cuts under consideration in Congress.Department of Labor disclosures logged on June 30, 2025,revealthat the union spent $1.2 million of members’ dues at the Salamander Hotel to cover a series of expenses labeled as “support for political activities.” 

TheOne Big Beautiful Bill Actserved as the cornerstone of Trump’s second-term economic agenda.While supporters touted tax breaks for service workers and small business owners, critics argued cuts to health and food subsidies would harm less affluent Americans.This disagreement sparked fierce opposition, including the SEIU’s seven-figure protest campaign, though Trump ultimately signed the bill into law on 4th of July weekend 2025.

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“Once again, we see union leaders spending lavishly at the expense of the members who fork over millions in union dues every year,” Rep.“These limousine liberals chose to stay at top-tier hotels so they could fight a bill that is actively lowering costs for workers and families across the nation—including their own members.SEIU’s leadership should put its money where its mouth is and focus on actually helping workers thrive.”

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Members of the 32BJ SEIU union and their supporters rally on Park Avenue in New York City on April 15, 2026.(Seth Wenig/AP)

SEIU chapters posted images of its members in the hotel�  

“The SEIU lectures the country about economic justice by day and apparently checks intofive-star luxury hotelsby night on their members’ dimes,�“So much for solidarity.”

CUF is a nonprofit interest group critical of organized labor.The SEIU, meanwhile, is a union representing roughly two million workers in healthcare, public service and other sectors.

The hotelappearsin the Michelin Guidebook, a catalog of luxury hotels published by the same organization responsible for awarding coveted Michelin stars to restaurants. 

“While it’s slightly less central than some of the older hotels, there’s an immediate payoff in the form of spectacular views — rooms overlook the Mall and the Washington Monument on one side, with the Basin and Jefferson Memorial on the other,” the guide reads.“Facilities, of course, are first-class;the Salamander Spa is one of the main attractions, itself as large as some hotels we’ve seen, offering every therapy yet devised in a surprisingly chic environment.”

Alongside spacious rooms and dramatic architecture, the Salamander Hotel has several luxury dining options, including a restaurant belonging to celebrity chef Kwame Onwuachi.

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Workers from the Service Employees International Union protested proposed Republican Medicaid cuts near the U.S.Capitol in Washington, D.C., on June 23, 2025.The protesters opposed the Senate version of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which they said would reduce Medicaid funding for 71 million Americans.(Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

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CUF notes in its report that the SEIU has its ownconference spacein D.C., raising questions about why it spent so much at the five-star hotel.

The SEIU’s websitestatesthat “dues are a touchy topic in any union,” and that “when times are tough, almost any expense can seem burdensome to workers.”

The webpage goes on to explain how the SEIU believes thatdues paymentshelp union members secure better pay and benefits through lobbying efforts, legal aid, educational programs and organizational training.

David Huerta, SEIU California and SEIU-USWW union president, walks in socks carrying his shoes after release from detention outside the Edward R.Roybal Federal Building in Los Angeles, Calif., on June 9, 2025, amid federal immigration sweeps.(Daniel Cole/Unknown)

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While staying in D.C.to protest the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, some SEIU members were among the more than two dozen people arrested by theUnited States Capitol Policefor illegally occupying a Senate office building on June 25, 2025.

Disclosures show that theSEIUspent additional funds at other high-end resorts in 2025.

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Among these was the Salamander Resort in Middleburg, Virginia, where the union’s leadership spent $32,806 on “staff meetings and training.” The resort consistentlyranksamong the best in the nation.