Why would a rich guy sleep in his office and leave his family back in the district?

[jp11]

18. From the pieces I've seen on congressmen doing this sort of thing

it seems to be that they can get away with it and/or are just cheap, some 'non-rich' members just might not be able to afford a place to live even with roommates. Or have to deal with wasting time commuting and finding a place that will let them rent for x months out of the year, ie like the summer when they end the session. For just over a month they'd be paying to rent an apartment and no one would be there during the August-September recess not to mention this congress and their many weeks off/weeks on. For the rest exploiting the taxpayers is just a part of who they are, being able to craftily put the burden of their expenses on someone else is often what they see as being 'resourceful'.

The other thing with Paul Ryan, again I have to guess this is where you were going with this, is he is a fitness freak so maybe living this 'spartan' existence that keeps him 'focused' on exercising and work appeals to his ideals of who he is/should be.