Gelato, Boat Rides, Cooking Classes and Energy Policy: Lawmakers Keep Going to a Stunning Italian Villa for Free

More than four dozen members of Congress and their spouses have taken trips to Lake Como on the Aspen Institute’s dime since 2023. They say the trips are substantive on policy.

Town of Bellagio along Lake Como.
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Lake Como, Italy, is a world-renowned vacation destination, with lush greenery, glittering blue water, quaint towns stacked on sun-drenched mountainsides, delicious food and wine and, of course, George Clooney’s villa.

And increasingly, members of Congress are going there for free.

The nonprofit Aspen Institute is sending lawmakers — and their spouses — to a Lake Como villa owned by the Rockefeller Foundation, where the members learn about food insecurity, climate change and artificial intelligence.