House Leaders Move to Impose More Transparency on Lawmakers' Expense Reports

House leaders are moving to post the expense reports of U.S. lawmakers on its Web site after the Wall Street Journal highlighted the eye-popping purchases some lawmakers have made with taxpayer money, including $25,000 for a luxury car lease and $1,500 for a digital camera.

"How they manage that account and how they spend that is really a lens into how they manage the federal budget," said Steve Ellis, the vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense.

The expense reports are currently published in hard copies, detailing how lawmakers spend their yearly allowances, which range from $1.3 million to $4.5 million dollars. The allowances largely pay for staff salaries, equipment, office space and travel to lawmakers' districts.

But the Wall Street Journal also found that the money is spent on dubious items.

Florida Rep. Alcee Hastings spent $24,730 last year to lease a 2008 luxury Lexus hybrid sedan. His office did not return calls seeking comment.

Ohio Rep. Michael Turner expensed a $1,435 digital camera. His office said the camera is "standard office equipment" to put pictures and videos on his Web site.

Rep. Howard Berman expensed $84,000 worth of personalized calendars, printed by the U.S. Capitol Historical Society, for his constituents. His office said those calendars were part of his communication with his constituents.

Records also show that some lawmakers spent heavily in the final months of the year to draw down allowances before the end of December -- a time when U.S. households were paring their budgets and lawmakers were criticizing Detroit auto executives for taking private aircraft to Washington to plead their case for taxpayer funding.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, don't agree on much, but they're in lockstep on the need for more transparency in expense reports.

"Whatever the downside might be for any individual, it's very much an upside in the interest of more openness for Congress," Pelosi said.

"Frankly, it holds members more accountable," Boehner said.

The House is expected to start posting the information by August.

FOX News' Molly Henneberg contributed to this report.