FIRST ON FOX: The U.S. House of Representatives agreed to pay $96,000 of taxpayer money last year to provide its staff premium access to a meditation app, citing the trauma of the Jan. 6, 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol.
Documents obtained exclusively by Fox News Digital indicate the House Center for Well Being inked a year-long contract with Calm, a San Francisco-based health software company, last September. The agreement ensured House staffers would receive a free subscription to Calm’s meditation, sleep and relaxation app.
The contract was made possible, in part, by the $1.9 billion emergency spending package Congress passed last year to bolster security in response to the Jan. 6, 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol. Calm's partnership with the House was spearheaded by the House Appropriations subcommittee on the legislative branch.
Subcommittee chairman Tim Ryan, an Ohio Democrat and well-known devotee of yoga and meditation, penned a letter last December with his GOP counterpart on the panel announcing the partnership. At the time, the duo wrote the investment was part of a larger effort to address the trauma inflicted on staff by the events of Jan. 6.
"As we head into 2022 and prepare to mark the first anniversary of the events of January 6, 2021, be assured that these offices are here to support you with their comprehensive mental and emotional support...
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