Colorado U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert broke new ground over the weekend when she became the first sitting member of Congress to offer personalized messages for sale — starting at $250 — through the video platform Cameo.
The Windsor Republican, who won election to a new congressional seat this month after moving across the state, started the account Saturday. The website allows customers to buy personalized video messages from celebrities.
On Monday morning, Boebert advertised her messages starting at $250, though she stopped taking requests by 10:45 a.m. mountain time.
“Whether you or someone you know needs an America-first pep talk, if you want to surprise friends or family with a message for a special day, or if you just want to know my thoughts on whatever’s on your mind, Cameo is the place to connect with me,” Boebert says in an introductory video.
Brandon Kazimer, a Cameo spokesperson, confirmed that the account belonged to Boebert. Boebert’s office declined to comment Monday.
Kazimer said she’s the first sitting member of Congress to sign up for the service as talent. At least two other former members of Congress, George Santos of New York and Matt Gaetz of Florida, have sold videos on the platform.
Santos joined Cameo soon after he was expelled from Congress last year over allegations he exploited office for personal financial gain. Gaetz, who is a friend of Boebert’s, joined the service Friday, days after he withdrew his nomination by President-elect Donald Trump to be the U.S. attorney general following allegations that he paid a teenage girl for sex.
Boebert does not appear to have advertised the service on her other social media accounts on X or Facebook. Congressional rules will limit how much Boebert can earn from the videos. In 2023, members were limited to making $31,815 in outside income beyond their annual $174,000 salaries.
She will have to report any earnings from Cameo on her annual disclosures.
The law also prohibits people from using their public office to make outside money, said Kedric Payne, a vice president and senior director of ethics for the Campaign Legal Center. Ultimately, the restriction is meant to give voters confidence that elected officials aren’t using public office for personal gain — or putting that gain ahead of their public service.
Boebert describes herself on Cameo as “Not your typical Colorado Republican politician. Jesus loving, Constitutionalist, America first, freedom fighter.” An earlier version of her Cameo page listed Boebert as a politician and categorized her as a political commentator, but it was updated to list her under the influencers category.
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Because she doesn’t use her title or appear to use other facets of her public job for the videos, such as filming in her congressional office, “that should take away any concern she’s trying to use her public job for personal gain,” Payne said.
He added that the limit on outside income also anticipates these kinds of problems by limiting the incentive for members to spend more effort on outside business ventures than their public service. But, he noted, people can cross that line quickly if it’s not clear if they’re acting in their public or private capacity.
The earned income that’s subject to the annual cap is considered separate from passive income made through things like stock market investments, Payne said, because it is actively made by selling goods and services.
“We’ll be watching to see if this becomes a trend,” Payne said of the Cameo side work. “If this is just a one-off where someone does this for a month or so, that’s one thing — but if it becomes a trend, where members of Congress are trying to act as influencers and get paid, that could point to a bigger problem.”
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