Judge garnishes Illinois congressman’s salary to repay loan

CHICAGO – A judge has ordered that 15 per cent of U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush’s congressional salary be garnished to pay for more than $1 million he owes on a delinquent bank loan.

The Better Government Association reports via the Chicago Sun-Times that a Cook County judge ruled Wednesday that $2,100 a month be taken from the Chicago Democrat’s $174,000 annual federal pay. Rush was ordered last June to repay the loan that was taken out in 2005 to buy the former Redeemer Lutheran Church on Chicago’s South Side. It became the Beloved Community Church of God in Christ.

Rush and seven other church members co-signed the loan. Rush’s creditors dropped the other co-signers from their lawsuit, leaving Rush liable.

Rush’s attorney, Berton Ring, tried to get the judge to take $300 a month, but the judge said the law required 15 per cent.