Travel Checkpoint

Senate panel questions conference attendance by Ed. Dept., other agencies.

A Senate subcommittee has been holding federal agencies’ feet to the fire about expenses for conference travel.

The Department of Education and other executive-branch agencies were asked to defend their travel spending policies during a hearing earlier this month of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs subcommittee on federal financial management, government information, and international security.

The Education Department’s annual spending on travel has increased 261 percent since 2000, according to the subcommittee, which is led by...