Gov. Mike Braun led Indiana’s top officials in reported travel expenses last fiscal year, narrowly outspending Secretary of State Diego Morales even as most of the governor’s travel kept him within Indiana.
Other officials ventured farther. Their schedules included a White House Christmas reception, an Israeli delegation, a nuclear energy conference in South Korea and a Swiss apprenticeship exchange.
The governor, statewide elected officials and top Braun administration appointees listed a combined $132,572 in travel-related expenses in 16 annual reports reviewed by the Indiana Capital Chronicle. The reports cover the fiscal year that ran from July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026.
Braun’s listed expenses totaled $28,014, followed by Morales at $26,563 and Energy and Natural Resources Secretary Suzanne Jaworowski at $25,046.
But the reports vary in how officials list trips and account for expenses, making direct comparisons difficult.
Braun’s report assigned expenses to individual travel days, for example, while Attorney General Todd Rokita listed no state expenses for most of his in-state travel. Morales and Treasurer Daniel Elliott grouped fleet or fuel charges into monthly totals rather than assigning those costs to individual Indiana trips.
Some officials also listed trips paid for by sponsoring organizations without disclosing those amounts. Others reported travel without numeric costs or an explanation of who paid.
A state law requires annual reporting on the purpose and location of official travel, expenses incurred and the state fund used to pay for each trip. The requirement followed scrutiny of Morales’ international travel and who paid for it.
The reports filed with the State Budget Agency additionally vary in detail. Some officials identified who they met with and why, while others provided little beyond a general description of a meeting or official event.
Braun stays close to home
Braun traveled extensively around Indiana for speaking engagements, meetings and other events. His office said he twice crossed a state line for an interview while visiting a border county.
His report also lists a February Washington trip described only as being for events and not paid for with taxpayer money. His office said the visit was for a Republican Governors Association meeting and was paid for through his campaign fund.
Braun’s expenses for other travel were charged to an Indiana State Police fund, with entries generally identifying the counties visited and describing the purposes as official meetings or events.
Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith also logged extensive travel around Indiana, along with several out-of-state appearances. His listed expenses totaled $16,355 after reported reimbursements, with about $13,500 associated with in-state travel.
Three visits to D.C. and one to Sarasota, Florida, accounted for about $2,900 in reported expenses after reimbursements.
A December 2025 Washington visit to attend the White House Christmas reception included $1,237.76 in airfare and hotel expenses.
“Susan and I were honored to attend the White House Christmas Reception yesterday in DC,” Beckwith posted on his official X account. “Thank you to @POTUS for the invite and your incredible work this year on the economy, border security, peace deals, and a list too long to mention. Your leadership is truly inspiring!”
Beckwith also attended National Lieutenant Governors Association events in Sarasota and Washington. The organization reimbursed part of those costs.
The Sarasota entries list $2,238.71 in airfare, lodging, per diem and rental car expenses, offset by a $1,905.13 reimbursement. A Washington visit in June for an aerospace event included $938.16 in airfare and lodging, with a $500 reimbursement.
Another capital visit in April, described as being for meetings, included $892.74 in airfare and lodging.
Cabinet travel reaches overseas
Jaworowski accounted for about 62% of the $40,460 in expenses listed by the seven cabinet secretaries.
Her largest expense was $8,283.97 for an April 20-May 1 visit to Seoul and Busan. Her report says she attended a nuclear energy conference and participated in economic development meetings with South Korean officials.
She also listed $2,167.41 for a May visit to New York to meet with a South Korean construction company about economic development opportunities. The report does not name the company.
Other travel included Washington meetings with federal energy and Pentagon officials about nuclear advancement at southern Indiana’s Crane Naval Base, along with an Austin speaking engagement at a small modular reactor conference.
Education Secretary Katie Jenner reported substantially less spending — $5,815.78 — but listed more dated travel-related events than any other cabinet secretary.
Her report contains 83 event entries, including 22 for out-of-state activities. Multiple events sometimes occurred during the same trip or on the same date.
Those out-of-state entries covered 41 distinct calendar dates, including 39 weekdays, according to a Capital Chronicle count of the reported start and end dates. Jaworowski’s 14 out-of-state entries covered the same number of calendar dates and weekdays.
No other cabinet secretary’s report covered more than 12 out-of-state calendar dates. The counts include the start and end dates of travel and do not necessarily represent full days away from the office.
Jenner’s destinations included Washington, Santa Barbara, Denver, New Orleans and Zurich, where she participated in an April exchange focused on the Swiss apprenticeship model and how it could be adapted in Indiana.
Her report lists $70 in state expenses for the Zurich visit. The report notes that outside organizations paid some or all expenses for that trip and several others, but does not say how much they covered.
Her Washington activities included testimony before the U.S. Senate’s education committee, meetings with federal officials and appearances at education policy events.
Transportation and Infrastructure Secretary Matt Ubelhor had the second-highest listed expenses among cabinet secretaries, at $6,952.91. His largest entries were $2,255.52 for a Salt Lake City visit and $1,903.62 for a Denver event.
Commerce Secretary David Adams’ report listed $2,189.25, including $1,327.41 for a Dallas conference. An accompanying letter says the report also includes expenses for a staff member who provided transportation for Adams, with funding from state appropriations and federal funds received through the Department of Workforce Development.
Health and Family Services Secretary Gloria Sachdev listed $456.72, including a $350 virtual conference. Her report also included Washington, San Diego and Boston travel without numeric expenses or an explanation of who paid.
Management and Budget Secretary Lisa Hershman listed 37 travel entries, including a Texas meeting, but supplied no numeric expenses. Business Affairs Secretary Mike Speedy likewise listed no numeric costs for 19 travel entries.
Washington visits and more
Rokita’s report provided little detail about his activities, listing broad regions of Indiana rather than specific destinations for many entries and describing every event’s purpose as official business.
His listed expenses totaled $5,694.54, with about $5,400 associated with 10 out-of-state trips. His dozens of in-state entries included only about $300 in expenses.
He traveled to Washington seven times during the year. Two visits listed no state expenses, while the other five totaled nearly $3,400.
Those visits included attending U.S. Supreme Court arguments in two transgender sports cases, a Medicaid fraud event and a Department of Health and Human Services announcement.
“Attended @HHSGov’s announcement today of bold new actions to stop sex-rejecting procedures on children. We are blessed to have an administration in the White House fully committed to the same kind of commonsense values that prevail among everyday Hoosiers in Indiana,” he said on social media.
Rokita also reported two Florida trips totaling about $1,900 without identifying the cities or providing details about their purposes. A Sea Island, Georgia, visit included $60 in expenses.
Morales listed five out-of-state trips with about $8,000 in expenses. Those included National Association of Secretaries of State conferences in Washington and Biloxi, Mississippi, along with another Washington visit for meetings with federal and state representatives.
In July 2025, he traveled to Washington for an election integrity briefing at the White House.
He also visited Phoenix for a securities regulation conference and Providence, Rhode Island, for a corporate records administration conference.
Most of his reported expenses came from travel closer to home. Monthly fleet charges totaled $18,329.49, about 69% of his overall listed expenses.
Elliott reported $6,987.11 in expenses, including about $5,000 in monthly gas card charges for Indiana travel.
His reported out-of-state expenses totaled about $1,900, including visits to Orlando, Washington, D.C., Denver, Salt Lake City and Israel.
The seven-day Israel visit ran Dec. 6-12, 2025, with stops in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, as part of a delegation with the National Association of State Treasurers and the America-Israel Friendship League.
His report lists $458.59 in expenses for the visit, without establishing the trip’s full cost.
Elliott announced $40 million in Israeli bond purchases between November 2023 and May 2024 — a $35 million purchase followed by another $5 million.
His travel report also lists no state expenses for conference or event visits to New Orleans; Dallas; Skokie, Illinois; and New Albany, Ohio.
Comptroller Elise Nieshalla reported the lowest expenses among the six statewide elected officials, at $2,912.39. About $1,600 was associated with in-state travel.
Her report lists four out-of-state conference visits, with the comptroller’s office covering $1,273.29 for a September Washington visit where she was an invited speaker at a Club for Growth event.
The State Financial Officers Foundation paid her expenses for an October conference in Washington and a May conference in Clearwater, Florida, according to her report. The State Policy Network paid her costs for an August 2025 meeting in New Orleans.
Other appointees
Indiana State Police Superintendent Anthony Scott listed $4,716.03, including $3,492.30 for a Denver police leadership meeting.
His total includes $435.53 for two trips taken during fiscal 2026 but paid in fiscal 2027. Another visit, to a Mothers Against Drunk Driving summit in Texas, was described as fully reimbursed by MADD.
Adjutant General Lawrence Muennich’s report listed $869.19 in monthly fuel charges and Indianapolis travel described as daily vehicle usage.
Braun’s chief of staff, Josh Kelley, listed three trips, including an August Washington, D.C. visit. All were described as not paid for with taxpayer money, without identifying the amounts or payers.
Indiana Capital Chronicle is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Indiana Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Niki Kelly for questions: info@indianacapitalchronicle.com.
