Rubbergate was the name given to a scandal that broke in early 1992 when it was revealed that members of the United States House of Representatives were knowingly writing bad checks, and not being penalized by the House Bank. Also known as the House banking scandal.

The name

The phrase referrs to the common expression that when checks fail, they're said to have "bounced", as if they were made of rubber. The "gate" derives from the common US mass media practice of labeling political scandals with "gate", after the first and most famous, Watergate.