The Interior Department falsely claimed that the feeding workers were based in the Washington, D.C., area, when in fact they were scattered across the United States, overpaying taxpayers up to $400,000 for dozens of employees. paid.
A report by the department's Office of Inspector General (OIG) found that at least 48 government employees were working outside the metropolitan area despite benefiting from higher pay meant for employees based in and around Washington. It turned out that it was working properly. The review was requested by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa).
The watchdog's report says 40 employees assigned to Home Affairs headquarters failed to report the minimum required to receive regional pay at least twice every pay period in fiscal year 2023. .
“As a result, DOI is estimated to have paid an annualized amount of $401,689 in payments to local governments, which may not have been allowable,” the OIG report states.
In 2023, employees based in Washington, DC and surrounding areas received a 33.94% increase in base pay due to the cost of living in the metropolitan area. Only businesses in and around Houston (35%), Los Angeles (36.47%), New York City (37.95%), and San Francisco (46.34%) received more generous increases.
Maps included in the report show that some workers receiving local benefits in the D.C. area are based in Alabama, California, Indiana, Massachusetts, Oregon, and South Carolina, among others. was.
The Ministry of Interior's headquarters is found to be only 14% full on an average working day. According to From 2024 onwards to the report of the Public Building Reform Committee.
The newspaper has contacted a ministry spokesperson for comment.
Ernst, 54, head of the Senate DOGE caucus, has been a vocal advocate of cracking down on lax government remote work policies and underutilized government office space.
A report released by the state of Iowa last year found that only 6% of federal employees are “in person full-time” and about a third are working remotely full-time. It turned out.
Many of those discoveries were the result of work between her office and many people. 74 statutory inspectors It supervises government departments and independent agencies.
Mr. Ernst announced Wednesday that he is forming a bipartisan Board of Inspectors General aimed at empowering an agency watchdog tasked with uncovering waste and fraud.
“The inspector general plays a critical role in exposing waste in Washington and must be empowered to keep taxpayers in check,” Ernst told the Post.
“From identifying multibillion-dollar thugs to exposing federal employees who are permanently out of office, their work has been a key part of my decade-long mission to expose waste and bring Washington to a standstill. It was invaluable,” she said, adding: Curb government excesses.
Mr. Ernst will lead the bipartisan caucus, along with Sens. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), and James. Senator Lankford (R-Oklahoma) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) will serve. ) will serve as co-chair.
State Sen. Hawkeye is working with DOGE leaders Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to expose government bloat and pursue reforms.
She believes strengthening the inspector general's office, of which there are dozens across the government, could help identify such inefficiencies.
Back in November, after President-elect Donald Trump announced the creation of DOGE, Ernst announced The plan aims to eliminate $2 trillion in “government waste.”
Musk suggested during the 2024 campaign that DOGE could reduce government spending by about $2 trillion, but later acknowledged that may not be a realistic goal.
