Staff Reports
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) is calling out the federal government for wasting taxpayer money on unused office space. A recent analysis conducted for Congress by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that 75 percent of available office space in the nation’s capital is sitting empty and still costing money for maintenance, cleaning, and climate control. This is due to the fact that many government employees are still working from home.
Ernst is urging 24 Inspectors General (IG) to determine the costs of the vacant space and consider selling or canceling leases for unused offices. She also wants the IGs to assess how the mass teleworking has affected government response times. The IGs are tasked with rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal government, and Ernst believes it’s time for them to hold the government accountable for the rising costs of teleworking.
According to Ernst, the costs of unused office space and reports of federal workers being paid without performing their duties demonstrate tax dollars going to waste. She cites examples of veterans unable to access mental health services, travelers waiting for hours to speak with someone at the State Department, and seniors experiencing delays and unanswered calls at the Social Security Administration.
As many federal employees continue to work from home, leaving offices empty—while still costing taxpayer money—@SenJoniErnst is calling on 24 inspectors general (IG) to figure out how much the vacant space costs and how much of it should be sold off. https://t.co/TaB1mhCg71
— The Epoch Times (@EpochTimes) August 28, 2023
While Ernst acknowledges that teleworking has benefits such as lowering office space costs, she believes it should not hinder the agencies’ ability to fulfill their missions or impede the timely delivery of quality services. She points to a Commerce Department IG analysis that found lax oversight and inadequate internal controls of telework, costing millions of dollars for unpaid work and contributing to a patent application backlog.
Ernst is giving her August Squeal Award to federal employees who refuse to return to work on behalf of taxpayers, veterans, seniors, and the nation. However, getting all the necessary information about the benefits and costs of federal teleworking will be challenging as the Biden administration is withholding the work locations of over a quarter million government employees.
OpenTheBooks.com, a nonprofit watchdog, submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to obtain this information but received no response from the White House. Adam Andrzejewski, CEO and founder of OpenTheBooks.com, warns that if government services and response times seem slow or failing, it’s because workers are teleworking, and their work locations are unknown.
The average salary of federal workers in 109 departments and agencies is over $100,000 annually, and they receive 44 days of paid time off each year. Ernst believes it’s essential to hold these employees accountable and ensure that tax dollars are not being wasted.
