ATHENS, Ga. --- "Is it affordable?" is one of four questions U.S. Rep. Paul Broun says he asks himself before voting on a bill.

Mr. Broun, R-Ga., might not be asking the same question when it comes to his office's spending.

The first-term 10th District congressman has spent nearly his entire budget for 2008 halfway through the year and might have to lay off staff or cut back other expenses, a Washington newspaper reported Wednesday.

But Mr. Broun denied that his office is going broke.

"The office is operating within budget and will continue to do so for the remainder of the year," spokeswoman Jessica Morris said in an e-mail. "There are hundreds of thousands of dollars available for salaries and business expenses."

The Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call, though, quoted several anonymous sources who said Mr. Broun is about to run out of money to staff and operate his offices in Washington, Athens, Augusta and Toccoa.

He spent half of his $1.38 million budget on letters, telephone messages and other communications, Roll Call reported.

Before April 16 Mr. Broun used his franking privileges to send out a dozen letters and fliers to 607,000 district residents at a cost of $110,000, more than any other congressman, according to another Washington newspaper, The Politico.

Members of Congress are barred from mailing such legislative updates 90 days before an election.

All the franked letters passed muster with a bipartisan commission that signs off on taxpayer-funded mailings, according to Mr. Broun's chief of staff, Aloysius Hogan.

Mr. Broun's GOP opponent in the July 15 primary, state Rep. Barry Fleming of Harlem, accused him during the campaign of abusing his franking privileges.

Mr. Fleming also criticized Mr. Broun for filing for bankruptcy and owing back taxes in the 1970s and 1980s, saying those incidents and the excessive franking showed he is fiscally irresponsible.

Mr. Broun's Democratic opponent, Bobby Saxon of Nicholson, said Wednesday that the reports raise questions about his ability to manage taxpayer money.